Overview
Matuszewska and colleagues measured 24 elements by ICP-MS and ICP-OES in bee pollen, propolis and royal jelly from a single apiary in west-central Poland over two seasons. Tables 1 and 2 print each of the six pollen and six propolis samples plus yearly and combined means; Table 4 adds one royal jelly sample.
Key numbers
- Bee pollen lead 0.09 to 0.22 mg/kg per sample; combined mean 0.15 ± 0.05 mg/kg (Table 1).
- Bee pollen cadmium 0.02 to 0.12 mg/kg; combined mean 0.06 ± 0.05 mg/kg (Table 1).
- Bee pollen arsenic 0.01 to 0.03 mg/kg (Table 1).
- Propolis lead 0.44 to 1.00 mg/kg per sample; combined mean 0.66 mg/kg (Table 4).
Methods (brief)
Samples of 0.25 to 0.75 g were digested with nitric acid at 180 °C in closed PTFE vessels. Trace elements were measured by quadrupole ICP-MS and major elements by ICP-OES. Validation used fortified-sample recoveries (75 to 125% accepted); LODs, LOQs and recoveries are in Supplementary Table S3, which was not available.
Evidence Fitness
One apiary, six pollen samples, and no CRM, so the data describe one location rather than the Polish market. Moisture basis is not stated. Table 2’s combined propolis column mostly repeats the 2019 values and some printed means do not match their own sample values; these are flagged in the extraction. Royal jelly is a single pilot sample.