PCA and LDA Assessment of the Heavy Metal Contamination in Honey Bees, Bee Pollen and Honey Produced in Urban Areas of Türkiye

Abstract

Heavy metals are of great importance in terms of environmental pollution. Environmental pollution affects not only humans but also plants and animals. Living organisms with varying sensitivity to various pollutants can be used to assess environmental pollution. Honey bees have been used as bioindicators for this purpose because they operate in very large areas in their region. The aim of this study is to investigate heavy metal pollution in honey bees and bee products in 4 different urban regions of Konya using principal component analysis (PCA) and linear discriminant analysis. In this study, when the heavy metal contents of honey bees, bee pollen, and honey samples are compared, it is seen that bees are exposed to more heavy metal contamination. Honey bees don’t reflect these amounts in the honey, and the heavy metal content in honey remains in much smaller amounts. When principal component analysis (PCA) is applied to these samples, the heavy metal variation of bees and bee pollen can be explained by three components, while the variation of the heavy metal contents of honey can be explained by four components. Linear discriminant analysis was performed to distinguish the geographic locations of the samples. According to the results of the LDA analysis for heavy metal content, the bees can be assigned to 80% and the pollen and honey to 100% of their correct geographical origin.