The use of honeybees and honey as environmental bioindicators for metals and radionuclides: a review

Abstract

Honeybees interact strongly with vegetables, air, soil, and water in the vicinity of the hive and, as a consequence, pollutants from these sources are translated to the honeybees and to the hive products. Therefore, over the last decades of the past century, honeybees and honey have been proposed as possible bioindicators for the study of the environmental status of the area surrounding the hive. This work is a critical review on the use of the hive as a passive sampling device and on the use of honeybees and honey as environmental bioindicator substrates for metals and radionuclides. The design of sampling networks, sampling procedures, sample pretreatments, analytical techniques, data analysis, and other influencing factors in this area are also reviewed.