Bee honey as an environmental bioindicator of pesticides' occurrence in six agricultural areas of Greece

dc.contributor.author	Balayiannis, G	en
dc.contributor.author	Balayiannis, P	en
dc.date.accessioned	2014-06-06T06:48:21Z
dc.date.available	2014-06-06T06:48:21Z
dc.date.issued	2008	en
dc.identifier.issn	00904341	en
dc.identifier.uri	http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00244-007-9126-x	en
dc.identifier.uri	http://62.217.125.90/xmlui/handle/123456789/4106
dc.subject.other	acaricide	en
dc.subject.other	chlorpyrifos	en
dc.subject.other	clofenvinfos	en
dc.subject.other	coumafos	en
dc.subject.other	pesticide	en
dc.subject.other	phorate	en
dc.subject.other	agricultural land	en
dc.subject.other	bee	en
dc.subject.other	bioindicator	en
dc.subject.other	cotton	en
dc.subject.other	evergreen tree	en
dc.subject.other	herb	en
dc.subject.other	honey	en
dc.subject.other	pest control	en
dc.subject.other	pesticide	en
dc.subject.other	article	en
dc.subject.other	chromatography	en
dc.subject.other	cotton	en
dc.subject.other	crop	en
dc.subject.other	Greece	en
dc.subject.other	honey	en
dc.subject.other	honeybee	en
dc.subject.other	priority journal	en
dc.subject.other	rural area	en
dc.subject.other	sunflower	en
dc.subject.other	Agriculture	en
dc.subject.other	Environmental Monitoring	en
dc.subject.other	Environmental Pollutants	en
dc.subject.other	Greece	en
dc.subject.other	Honey	en
dc.subject.other	Pesticides	en
dc.subject.other	Eurasia	en
dc.subject.other	Europe	en
dc.subject.other	Greece	en
dc.subject.other	Southern Europe	en
dc.subject.other	Acari	en
dc.subject.other	Apis mellifera	en
dc.subject.other	Apoidea	en
dc.subject.other	Citrus	en
dc.subject.other	Gossypium hirsutum	en
dc.subject.other	Helianthus	en
dc.subject.other	Hexapoda	en
dc.subject.other	Varroa	en
dc.subject.other	Varroa destructor	en
dc.title	Bee honey as an environmental bioindicator of pesticides' occurrence in six agricultural areas of Greece	en
heal.type	journalArticle	en
heal.identifier.primary	10.1007/s00244-007-9126-x	en
heal.publicationDate	2008	en
heal.abstract	The pollution of six agricultural areas of Greece (north, central, south) by insecticides used in crop protection has been investigated utilizing, as a bioindicator, bee honey produced in those areas. Honey samples collected randomly from apiaries located in those areas were analyzed for pesticide residues with a multianalytical method, able to determine simultaneously up to 10 organophosphorous insecticides from the same honey extract. Findings concerning the acaricide coumaphos were also included, even though it is not used in crop protection. Coumaphos is used to control the mite Varroa destructor, an external parasite of the honeybee. The above areas are cultivated in large extent with citrus trees or cotton or sunflower crops, which are good forages for honeybees. The main pests of those crops are insects; hence, insecticides are used on a large scale for crop protection. The most contaminated samples originated from citrus groves; 16 out of 19 had pesticide residues: 4 samples had chlorfenvinphos (21.05%), 10 had chlorpyrifos (52.63%) and 2 had phorate (10.53%). Out of 17 samples from cotton fields, residues were found in 8, phorate in 6 (35.29%), chlorfenvinphos in 1 (5.88%), and chlorpyrifos in 1 (5.88%). Out of nine samples from fields of sunflower, four had phorate residues (44.44%). In brief, from the 50 analyzed samples, residues of chlorfenvinphos were detected in 5 samples (10%), residues of chlorpyrifos in 11 samples (22%), and residues of phorate in 12 samples (24%). Their levels ranged between 0.70 and 0.89 μg/kg. Coumaphos residues ranged from 0.10 up to 4.80 μg/kg and were derived exclusively from beehives treated with Perizin (the commercial formulation of coumaphos) for Varroa control. This study indicates that in agricultural areas with developed apiculture, useful information about the occurrence and the distribution of pesticide residues due to crop protection treatments can be derived from the analysis of randomly collected honey samples, used as bioindicators. It also shows that, very often, the chemicals used by apiculturists inside the hives in order to control disease are the main pollutants of the produced honey. © 2008 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.	en
heal.journalName	Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology	en
dc.identifier.issue	3	en
dc.identifier.volume	55	en
dc.identifier.doi	10.1007/s00244-007-9126-x	en
dc.identifier.spage	462	en
dc.identifier.epage	470	en