TY - JOUR
T1 - Honey as an indicator of long-term environmental changes
T2 - MP-AES analysis coupled with 14C-based age determination of Hungarian honey samples
AU - Varga, Tamás
AU - Sajtos, Zsófi
AU - Gajdos, Zita
AU - Jull, A. J.Timothy
AU - Molnár, Mihály
AU - Baranyai, Edina
N1 - Funding Information:
The research was supported by the European Union and the State of Hungary , co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund in the project of GINOP-2.3.2-15-2016-00009 ‘ICER’. This work was done under the auspices of IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) in the frame of the CRP (Coordinated Research Projects): Enhancing Nuclear Analytical Techniques to Meet the Needs of Forensics Sciences. We acknowledge the Agilent Technologies and the Novo-Lab Ltd. (Hungary) for providing the MP-AES 4200 instrument for the elemental analysis. We thank the anonymous reviewer for his/her careful reading of our manuscript and his/her many insightful comments and suggestions.
PY - 2020/9/20
Y1 - 2020/9/20
N2 - Several studies show that the elemental content of honey entirely depends on the botanical and geographical origin, but the information is incomplete regarding its time-dependent composition changes. Twenty-six acacia and three honey samples with unknown botanical origin were collected between 1958 and 2018 and analysed for elemental composition by Microwave Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry (MP-AES). The elemental analysis was coupled with independent dating method by Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) to confirm the calendar age of the honey samples and test the possibility of radiocarbon based dating of bee products, which has not been applied before. According to the analytical measurements and statistical analysis, we can conclude that the elemental composition shows change with time in the acacia honey during the last five decades. We have proven that honey preserves carbon isotopic and elemental information of its production time and thus can be applied as an environmental indicator (e.g. trace urban pollutants, precipitation, local industrial or agricultural emission) in reconstruction studies by analysing the non-degradable mineral content. Our results further show that acacia honey is a suitable material for radiocarbon dating, proved by the results compared to the atmospheric radiocarbon bomb-peak. The new approach presented for investigation of honey by radiocarbon-based age determination coupled with elemental analysis can be used in biological, dietary, archaeological or other multidisciplinary studies as well. Some samples show slightly depleted radiocarbon content. This could be an indication of local fossil CO2 emission. Based on these depleted 14C results, honey could be used for atmospheric monitoring of fossil CO2 urban or industrial hot-spots.
AB - Several studies show that the elemental content of honey entirely depends on the botanical and geographical origin, but the information is incomplete regarding its time-dependent composition changes. Twenty-six acacia and three honey samples with unknown botanical origin were collected between 1958 and 2018 and analysed for elemental composition by Microwave Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry (MP-AES). The elemental analysis was coupled with independent dating method by Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) to confirm the calendar age of the honey samples and test the possibility of radiocarbon based dating of bee products, which has not been applied before. According to the analytical measurements and statistical analysis, we can conclude that the elemental composition shows change with time in the acacia honey during the last five decades. We have proven that honey preserves carbon isotopic and elemental information of its production time and thus can be applied as an environmental indicator (e.g. trace urban pollutants, precipitation, local industrial or agricultural emission) in reconstruction studies by analysing the non-degradable mineral content. Our results further show that acacia honey is a suitable material for radiocarbon dating, proved by the results compared to the atmospheric radiocarbon bomb-peak. The new approach presented for investigation of honey by radiocarbon-based age determination coupled with elemental analysis can be used in biological, dietary, archaeological or other multidisciplinary studies as well. Some samples show slightly depleted radiocarbon content. This could be an indication of local fossil CO2 emission. Based on these depleted 14C results, honey could be used for atmospheric monitoring of fossil CO2 urban or industrial hot-spots.
KW - AMS
KW - Element content
KW - Honey
KW - MP-AES
KW - Radiocarbon dating
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U2 - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139686
DO - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139686
M3 - Article
C2 - 32474272
AN - SCOPUS:85085272360
VL - 736
JO - Science of the Total Environment
JF - Science of the Total Environment
SN - 0048-9697
M1 - 139686
ER -