Dioxin Analysis of Bee Pollen Pellets Collected by Apis mellifera L. in Rural Area of Turkey

Bee pollen, an important bee product, is harvested as a food supplement for humans, so it must be safe in terms of toxic components for consumption. The aim of this study is to determine the amounts of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (dl-PCBs) and non dioxin-like PCBs (ndl-PCBs) in the bee pollen pellets of Apis mellifera L. collected from Çankırı, located in the central Anatolia region of Turkey, between June and July 2014. Six types of pollen belonging to four families: Centaurea triumfettii L. - Asteraceae family; Brassica spp. L. - Brassicaceae family; Cistus spp. L. - Cistaceae family; Onobrychis spp. L., Hedysarum spp. L. and Trifolium spp. L. - Fabaceae family, were determined through microscopic analysis. Dioxin and PCB congeners were determined in a pooled bee pollen sample and all the results were found lower than the European Union regulatory limits for other foods. To the best of our knowledge, this is among the first studies on dioxin analysis in bee pollen worldwide.