Optimised approach for small mass sample preparation and elemental analysis of bees and bee products by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

Effectiveness of Different Sample Treatments for the Elemental Characterization of Bees and Beehive Products

“…With the lack of a suitable CRM, spiked samples were also used to determine the elemental recoveries by methods A and B, in accordance with previous studies [ 35 ]. It is worth mentioning that the study of recoveries does not allow for the assessment of the efficiency of the digestion procedure in decomposing the sample matrix but only enables the evaluation of matrix effects and losses or increases in a concentration of elements compared to the added amounts.…”

“…Flame atomic absorption spectrometry (F-AAS) has been often employed for the low-cost and rapid determination of high concentrations of metals [ 21 , 22 , 28 ]. To control the quality of honey and other beehive products in terms of contamination by heavy metals, many sensitive techniques are required, including graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry (GF-AAS) [ 17 , 19 ], electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ET-AAS) [ 29 , 30 ], microwave plasma technique atomic emission spectrometry (MP-AES) [ 31 ], inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) [ 14 , 16 , 24 , 32 , 33 , 34 ], and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) [ 14 , 18 , 20 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 ]. In addition, other atomic techniques, such as atomic analyzer mercury (AMA), hydride generation-atomic absorption spectrometry (HG-AAS) and cold vapor atomic fluorescence spectrometry (CV-AFS), have been employed in environmental studies for the determination of Hg, As and Se [ 40 , 41 ].…”

“…Samples of honey and other beehive products are commonly decomposed using high temperature dry ashing [ 17 , 50 ] or wet digestion procedures, in order to destroy the carbohydrate-rich sample matrix and minimize the matrix-based interferences [ 21 , 22 ]. To obtain an efficient honeybee and beehive products digestion, various reagents or mixtures are used, including concentrated HNO 3 or other acids (such as HCl, HClO 4 and H 2 SO 4 ), frequently mixed with 30% H 2 O 2 , using open vessels or sealed quartz or polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) vessels in microwave-assisted systems [ 21 , 22 , 35 , 38 , 39 ]. Unfortunately, to date the validation of methods and procedures used for the analysis of bees and beehive products is difficult because no certified reference material (CRM) of these matrices is available.…”

“…Instead, the trueness of the methods and procedures applied is commonly checked by the analysis of other CRMs containing high levels of carbohydrates, such as Antarctic krill (MURST-ISSA2), apple leaves (NIST 1515), brown bread (BCR 191), corn (NBS 8413), mixed Polish herbs (INCT-MPH-2), tea leaves (INCT-TL-1) and wheat (IPE 684) or whole meal flour (BCR 189) [ 21 , 22 ]. For the same purpose, the recovery tests are carried out on the chosen samples spiked with known amounts of selected elements [ 21 , 22 , 35 ].…”

“…Generally, among all beehive products, only honey [ 14 , 20 , 21 , 23 , 32 , 34 , 51 , 52 , 53 ] or honey and pollen [ 17 , 24 , 35 ] are considered in the optimization approach for elemental determination with ICP techniques. To our knowledge, in the literature, few studies are focused on the elemental content of other beehive products such as propolis [ 19 , 31 , 38 ] or royal jelly and beeswax [ 15 ].…”