Transfer of Some Toxic Metals from Soil to Honey Depending on Bee Habitat Conditions

The transfer of toxic metals from soil to honey was studied based on two different areas of the Podkarpackie region located in the south-east part of Poland: U-urbanized and E-ecologically pure. The metal content was determined using the ICP-OES method with prior microwave mineralization of the soil, plant (goldenrod, dandelion, rapeseed, tilia and fir), bee bodies and honey samples collected from 10 sampling points (U-5 and E-5). The impact of soil pH on heavy metal mobility was also evaluated. It was found that Podkarpackie soils are less contaminated with heavy metals as compared to other regions of Poland and only in the case of cadmium an enhancement of the natural background level was observed. The migration of heavy metals, especially cadmium, in the soil-plant-bee-honey food chain was accelerated by soil acidity (p<0.05). The influence of human activity (region development) on heavy metals concentrations was not significant (p>0.05). Based on bioaccumulation factors, goldenrod and dandelion plants were confirmed as cadmium accumulators. It was also confirmed that the bodies of bees act as an effective barrier to the migration of heavy metals from the environment to honey, due to this, honey is free from these metals and safe for human consumption.

Heavy metals speciation with prediction model for heavy metal mobility and risk assessment in mine-affected soils

&lt;p&gt;Heavy metals from mines affect soil and groundwater, cause aand severely impact on the health of local residents. The soil samples were characterized the for distribution, and by the chemical speciation method , and then estimated the human health risks of the two mine-affected soils after stabilization were estimated. Two extraction techniques (Tessier and Wenzel methods) were applied to fractionate metals, such as arsenic (As) and zinc (Zn), to quantify the chemical status of metals in the soils. The mobility of As and Zn was predicted using ASTM test and sequential extraction (Tessier and Wenzel) methods results. The correlation coefficients of As and Zn mobility prediction using Tessier and Wenzel Fraction 1 were (0.920 and 0.815), respectively. Sum The of fractionsum of fractions (F1+F2+F3) showed the highest correlation coefficients value and F value for mobility prediction of both As and Zn. The hazardous indices (HI) for non-carcinogenic risk and carcinogenic risk (CR) to humans were evaluated according to the pseudo-total concentrations of metal in soils. The CR values of carcinogenic for As were within the ranges from 1.38 &amp;#215; 10&lt;sup&gt;-4&lt;/sup&gt; to 1.25 &amp;#215; 10&lt;sup&gt;-3&lt;/sup&gt; and 3.71 &amp;#215; 10&lt;sup&gt;-4&lt;/sup&gt; to 3.35 &amp;#215; 10&lt;sup&gt;-3&lt;/sup&gt; for both Young Dong (YD) and Dea San (DS), respectively. The HI for non-carcinogenic risk was highest for As in the YD (2.77) and DS (7.46) soils, which covered approximately 96 and 84% of HI, respectively. In summary, the contribution of As to risk from heavy metals was dominant.&lt;/p&gt;