Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: bees, honey and pollen as sentinels for environmental chemical contaminants.

Olivier Lambert (1) , Bruno Veyrand (1) , Sophie Durand (2) , Philippe Marchand (1) , Bruno Le Bizec (2) , Mélanie Piroux (1) , Sophie Puyo (1) , Chantal Thorin (1) , Frédéric Delbac (3) , Hervé Pouliquen (1)

1 ONIRIS - École nationale vétérinaire, agroalimentaire et de l'alimentation Nantes-Atlantique
2 LABERCA - Laboratoire d'étude des Résidus et Contaminants dans les Aliments
3 LMGE - Laboratoire Microorganismes : Génome et Environnement

Three beehive matrices, sampled in six different apiaries from West France, were analyzed for the presence of four polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH4: benzo[a]pyrene, benzo[a]anthracene, benzo[b]fluoranthene and chrysene). Samples were collected during four different periods in both 2008 and 2009. Honey samples showed the lowest levels of PAH4 contamination (min=0.03 μg kg(-1); max=5.80 μg kg(-1); mean=0.82 μg kg(-1); Sd=1.17). Bee samples exhibited higher levels of PAH4 contamination (min=0.32 μg kg(-1); max=73.83 μg kg(-1); mean=7.03 μg kg(-1); Sd=17.83) with a great dispersion of the concentrations due to four main events of high concentrations. Pollen samples showed only one major episode with the highest PAH4 concentration found (min=0.33 μg kg(-1); max=129.41 μg kg(-1); mean=7.10 μg kg(-1); Sd=22.28). The PAH4 concentrations found were significantly influenced by the landscape context for all beehive samples.

Mots clés: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; Bees; Honey; Pollen; PAHs

Domaines: Biodiversité et Ecologie

Olivier Lambert, Bruno Veyrand, Sophie Durand, Philippe Marchand, Bruno Le Bizec, et al.. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: bees, honey and pollen as sentinels for environmental chemical contaminants.. Chemosphere, 2012, 86 (1), pp.98-104. ⟨10.1016/j.chemosphere.2011.09.025⟩. ⟨hal-00814214⟩