RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article
T1 Pesticide contamination in apicultural products: An updated and comprehensive review of analytical methods, occurrence, and safety concerns
A1 De La Fuente Ballesteros, Adrián
A1 Smerkol, Maj
A1 Gradišek, Anton
A1 Sarmento, Artur
A1 Fourrier, Julie
A1 Arapcheska, Mila
A1 Hajrulai Musliu, Zehra
A1 Franeta, Filip
A1 Milovac, Željko
A1 Gvozdenac, Sonja
A1 İçli, Nesrin
A1 Kurtagić, Harun
A1 Pasho, Ina
A1 Zioga, Elena
A1 Vázquez, Beatriz I.
A1 Pavliček, Damir
A1 Busquets, Rosa
A1 Ciric, Jelena
A1 Esenbuga, Nurinisa
A1 Cavaco, Miriam
A1 Rodrigues, Helena
A1 Ferreira, Rosa
A1 Leite, Marta
A1 Lace, Zane
A1 Ares Sacristán, Ana María
A1 Bernal del Nozal, José
A1 Pugajeva, Iveta
K1 Apicultural products
K1 Honey
K1 Pesticide residues
K1 Analytical methods
K1 Mass spectrometry
K1 Food safety
K1 Environmental monitoring
K1 Plant Protection Products
K1 23 Química
AB Honeybees and their products integrate landscape-level chemical exposure, making apicultural matrices valuable bioindicators for both food safety and environmental monitoring. This review summarizes current knowledge on pesticide residues in honey, pollen, beebread, beeswax, royal jelly, and propolis from 2019 to 2024, with an overview of analytical methodologies used in their determination. Multi-residue methods remain dominated by Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged, and Safe (QuEChERS) extraction combined with liquid and gas chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry, while high-resolution MS enables broader screening. Highly polar pesticides, particularly glyphosate and its metabolites, require specialised single-residue approaches, such as the Quick Polar Pesticides (QuPPe) method and ion chromatography–high-resolution mass spectrometry (IC-HRMS). Co-occurrence patterns frequently involve mixtures of neonicotinoids, acaricides, and fungicides, reflecting combined agricultural and in-hive treatments. Regarding matrices, honey typically shows insecticide and acaricide residues, pollen concentrates fungicides and insecticides as the main exposure route, and beeswax acts as a long-term sink for lipophilic compounds; royal jelly generally exhibits the lowest contamination levels. Although exceedances of Maximum Residue Limits in honey remain uncommon in European monitoring programs, the presence of pesticide mixtures and limited residue data for bee-related products beyond honey raise concern. Future research should prioritize harmonized residue limits for all beekeeping matrices, standardized quality control and reporting practices, targeted mixture-toxicity assessment under realistic co-exposure scenarios, and the broader adoption of green, miniaturized, and matrix-tailored sample preparation strategies to enhance sensitivity, sustainability, and comparability across studies.
PB Elsevier
SN 2214-1588
YR 2026
FD 2026
LK https://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/82830
UL https://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/82830
LA eng
NO Trends in Environmental Analytical Chemistry, 2026, vol. 49, p. e00300
NO Producción Científica
DS UVaDOC
RD 17-feb-2026