Overview
Sattler and colleagues measured essential minerals and inorganic contaminants in five dried bee-pollen samples from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The source is routeable for bee-pollen and supplement-context occurrence because it reports sample-level means for cadmium, lead, barium, lithium, vanadium, chromium, and nutritional trace elements. Cadmium was the contaminant that exceeded the cited bee-pollen standard in three of five samples.
Key numbers
All contaminant values below are source-reported mg/100 g, mean +/- SD, for dried bee pollen.
| Sample | Ba | Cd | Li | Pb | V |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0.660 +/- 0.006 | 0.0026 +/- 0.0002 | 0.223 +/- 0.001 | 0.018 +/- 0.001 | 0.399 +/- 0.004 |
| 2 | 0.393 +/- 0.002 | 0.0029 +/- 0.0001 | 0.191 +/- 0.002 | 0.012 +/- 0.002 | 0.489 +/- 0.003 |
| 3 | 0.506 +/- 0.002 | 0.0060 +/- 0.0000 | 0.215 +/- 0.002 | 0.015 +/- 0.001 | 0.489 +/- 0.004 |
| 4 | 0.570 +/- 0.008 | 0.0098 +/- 0.0001 | 0.200 +/- 0.002 | 0.012 +/- 0.002 | 0.423 +/- 0.003 |
| 5 | 1.593 +/- 0.017 | 0.0244 +/- 0.0003 | 0.235 +/- 0.002 | 0.017 +/- 0.001 | 0.416 +/- 0.004 |
| Grand mean | 0.744 +/- 0.007 | 0.0091 +/- 0.0001 | 0.213 +/- 0.002 | 0.015 +/- 0.001 | 0.443 +/- 0.003 |
The paper reports cadmium at 0.0026-0.0244 mg/100 g and lead at 0.012-0.018 mg/100 g. It states that samples 3, 4, and 5 failed to meet the source-cited bee-pollen cadmium standard of 0.003 mg/100 g, while lead remained below the cited 0.05 mg/100 g standard. The same paper reports chromium in the mineral table at 0.2-4.2 mg/100 g and notes that a 25 g serving would provide at least the adult recommended intake for chromium.
Methods (brief)
Samples were acid-digested with nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide after demineralization of materials used in analysis. Calcium, iron, copper, manganese, zinc, barium, cadmium, chromium, lithium, molybdenum, phosphorus, lead, and vanadium were measured by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry. Results are reported as mean +/- SD with n=3 analytical replicates per sample.
Implications
Certification: The source contributes Brazil-market occurrence data for dried bee-pollen supplement matrices, especially cadmium and lead. It should not be used as a finished multivitamin-tablet dataset; the actual matrix is bee pollen sold or consumed as a supplement-like food.
Courses: The paper is useful for showing why bee-derived ingredients can carry both nutritional mineral claims and contaminant-screening obligations.
App: The source can support bee-pollen matrix warnings or gap flags if a bee-product ingredient page is later scaffolded.
Related evidence
- Dietary Supplements
- Ingredient class — vitamin/mineral (single, multi-mineral, multi-vitamin/mineral)
- Cadmium
- Lead
- Barium
- Vanadium
- Chromium
- Copper
- Iron
- Manganese
- Zinc
Update history
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