Overview
Ćirić and colleagues review pesticide residues, toxic elements and moulds in bee pollen, drawing on published studies, and discuss bee pollen as an environmental bioindicator. Table 2 compiles mean lead, arsenic and cadmium from five earlier studies. The paper makes no measurements of its own.
Key numbers
- Quoted lead means in bee pollen range from 20 µg/kg (Chile) to 247 µg/kg (Europe), and cadmium from 2 µg/kg (Brazil) to 88 µg/kg (Europe) (Table 2, p. 274).
- Limits cited: International Honey Commission proposals for honey of lead 500, cadmium 30 and mercury 10 µg/kg (p. 274).
Methods (brief)
Narrative literature review; no analytical work.
Evidence Fitness
Context only. All numbers belong to the cited primary studies and should be taken from them. The text says cadmium exceeded 30 µg/kg in most studies except Brazil, but its own table lists 20 µg/kg for Chile. The bee-pollen page is not linked as a measurement source.