Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Study: Honey May be Used as Pollution Indicator

Preliminary Chemometric Study on the Use of Honey as an Environmental Marker in Galicia (Northwestern Spain)
J Agric Food Chem, 2006 Sep 20;54(19):7206-7212

Thirteen metal elements were determined in 40 honey samples from Galicia with different environmental origins: rural, urban, and industrial areas. The data set of the honey metallic profiles was studied with a double purpose: first, to make a preliminary evaluation of honey as an environmental indicator in Galicia with the aim of monitoring pollution and, second, to compare the different capabilities of diverse pattern recognition prediction procedures for modeling the environmental surrounding of the hive…

The metal profiles of honey seem to provide sufficient information to enable categorization criteria for classifying samples according to their environmental surrounding. Thus, honey could be a potential pollution indicator for the Galician area.

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