Use of Honeybees as Bio-Indicators of Environmental Pollution in the Kurdistan Province of Iran

Abstract The aim of this study was to determine the levels of these elements: Hg, Ba, Ca, Fe, Mn, Li, As, Na and K in the bodies of bees. Honeybee samples were randomly collected from apiaries located in four counties of the province of Kurdistan. The four counties were: Marivan, Bijar, Kamyaran and Ghorveh. The data obtained from this study showed that K had the highest concentration, followed by Na, Ca, Hg, Ba, Fe, Mn, Li and As. From among all the sites, there were no significant differences recorded between the concentrations of the different metals. The results did show that three minerals groups were able to be differentiated: elements that were very abundant, elements in a medium concentration, and trace elements. The first group consisted of K and Na, with a range from 41.857 to 47.871, and 12.653 to 16.183 ppm, respectively. The second mineral group was composed of Ca, Hg, Ba, and Fe, where Ca was the most abundant element (with a range of 9.077 to 10.058 ppm), followed by Hg (1.12-4.786 ppm), Ba (2.881-3.481 ppm), and Fe (1.050-1.727 ppm). The third mineral group was composed of Mn, Li and As. They ranged from 0.262 to -0.399, and from 0.043 to 0.101, and from 0.017 to 0.068 ppm, respectively. Streszczenie Celem niniejszych badań było określenie zawartości następujących pierwiastków: Hg, Ba, Ca, Fe, Mn, Li, As, Na i K w ciele pszczół. Próby pszczół zostały pobrane losowo z czterech okręgów prowincji Kurdystan: Marivan, Bijar, Kamyaran i Ghorveh. Zebrane dane wykazały, że najwyższe stężenia osiągał K, a następnie Na, Ca, Hg, Ba, Fe, Mn, Li i As. Nie stwierdzono istotnych różnic porównując stężenia metali w próbach pochodzących z różnych lokalizacji. Na podstawie wyników wyodrębniono trzy grupy pierwiastków: pierwiastki występujące obficie, pierwiastki osiągające średnie stężenia i pierwiastki występujące w ilościach śladowych. Pierwszą grupę pierwiastków tworzyły K i Na, których stężenia wynosiły odpowiednio od 41,857 do 47,871 i od 12,653 do 16,183 ppm. Drugą grupę tworzyły Ca, Hg, Ba i Fe, przy czym najwyższe stężenia osiągał Ca (9,077- 10,058 ppm), następnie Hg (1,12-4,786 ppm), Ba (2,881-3,481 ppm) i Fe (1,050-1,727 pm). Trzecia grupa zawierała Mn, Li i As. Wartości ich stężeń wynosiły odpowiednio od 0,262 do 0,399, od 0,043 do 0,101 i od 0,017 do 0,068 ppm.

• Publication year

  2012

• Venue

  Unknown venue

• Publication date

  2012-12-01

• Fields of study

  Agricultural And Food Sciences, Biology

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.2478/v10289-012-0026-6
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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