Bio-monitoring of cadmium, lead, arsenic and mercury in industrial districts of Izmir, Turkey by using honey bees, propolis and pine tree leaves followed by atomic absorption spectrometry

Nowadays, increasing levels of chemical pollutants in the environment were seen due to urbanization, industrialization and agricultural activities. Various environmental matrices like water, air and soil are subjected to organic and inorganic pollutants [1]. Due to increased public awareness about environmental and health issues, inspect contamination, especially by bio-monitoring has been considered. Among chemical pollutants, heavy metals are seriously toxic and exposure of living organisms (human, animals and plants) affects their health negatively. Environmental pollution causes heavy metals existence in the food chain. Due to physiological functions of heavy metals through the food chains, they are classified as the main group of inorganic pollutants. They have long-term presence and accumulate in the environment due to their rapid and sustained release, capacity for mobilization and dispersion, non-biodegradable and long half-life. In this study honey bees, propolis and leaves of pine trees were sampled from five different points of industrial district in Izmir-Turkey during spring 2014. These samples were used as biological indicators for heavy metal pollution of the environment. Heavy metals including cadmium, lead, arsenic and mercury were determined in samples by electrothermal and flame atomic absorption spectrometry. Results showed the high levels of heavy metal contamination, especially in propolis samples. Mercury not detected in the all analyzed samples.