Inorganic Contaminants in Bee Pollen from Southeastern Brazil

Abstract

A set of experiments was carried out to validate a method for inorganic contaminants in honeybee-collected pollen, consisting of digestion of the samples in a closed microwave-assisted system and quantification of 10 inorganic contaminants by ICP OES. Forty-three samples of Brazilian bee pollen, collected in southeastern Brazil during one year, were analyzed. Determination of these analytes is important both as bioindicators of pollution and to verify the safety of consuming the pollen itself. The method had satisfactory performance, with good accuracy and precision. The ranges of the mean levels were 10.4-268.0 mg/kg for Al, <0.01-1.38 mg/kg for As, 2.78-17.63 mg/kg for Ba, 0.003-0.233 mg/kg for Cd, <0.01-1.11 mg/kg for Co, <0.01-2.32 mg/kg for Cr, <0.10-1.13 mg/kg for Ni, <0.01-0.44 mg/kg for Pb, <0.035-1.33 mg/kg for Sb, and <0.0004-0.0068 mg/kg for Hg. Contamination seemed to occur in the following decreasing order: Sao Paulo > Minas Gerais > Espirito Santo. Generally higher levels of all studied contaminants were observed in samples produced in an urban site, compared to those of a rural site. Al, Cd, Co, and Pb tended to have higher levels during the dry months (July-October). Ingestion estimates showed that Al and As would have the highest contributions to the adult diet, reaching 27 and 8%, respectively, of the provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) values, considering a daily portion of 25 g.

Essential minerals and inorganic contaminants (barium, cadmium, lithium, lead and vanadium) in dried bee pollen produced in Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil

“…(2013) (0.005-0.137 mg/100 g) and were similar to the average content value observed by Morgano et al (2010) for Brazilian samples (0.012 mg/100 g). Samples 3, 4 and 5 failed to meet the standards for Cd and Pb levels in bee pollen (0.003 mg and 0.05 mg/100 g, respectively) proposed by Campos et al (2008).…”

“…Barium (Ba) was present at the highest levels (0.393-1.593 mg/100 g), comprising about 52% of total mineral contaminants. Morgano et al (2010) found an average Ba content of 0.541 mg/100 g in 43 samples of bee-pollen from three Brazilian States (São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo). Ba compounds have many industrial applications and their toxicity depends on their solubility in water or in the gastric juice (Berman, 1980).…”

“…A Brazilian study using 43 samples of dehydrated and granulated bee pollen from three southeastern states in Brazil concluded that Brazilian bee pollen is sensitive to environmental pollution and susceptible to contamination with inorganic elements and, for this reason, its production should be monitored to ensure safety. The researchers also suggested that it could be used as a bioindicator of contamination (Morgano et al, 2010 (Maihara et al, 2012;Lambert et al, 2012).…”

As, Cr, Cd, and Pb in Bee Products from a Polish Industrialized Region

“…Conti and Bortè [13] found less Cr in all bee pollen samples from areas of varied contamination. Morgano et al [20] observed varied Cr levels in samples from southeastern Brazil, depending on collection time. They found higher levels of Pb (0.147 mg kg -1 ) and Cd (0.033 mg kg -1 ) in bee loads.…”

Nutrients and Heavy Metals in Flowers and Corms of the Saffron Crocus (Crocus sativus L.)

“…Contamination with arsenic and even more with cadmium, has been reported in bee pollen from several countries (Europe, China, Brazil), and the present study is a new alert for pollen from rural fields. For arsenic high concentrations were found in Brazil [20,21], with values ranging 0.01 to 2.65 µg/g, China [6], with 5.24 µg/g, and in Serbia with 0.104 to 5.573 µg/g [22], and 1.090 to 9.640 µg/g [23]. For cadmium, high values were found in Poland with 0.48 to 0.66 µg/g [24], and even from 45.6 to 92.0 µg/g [25].…”