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Determination of Heavy Metals in Honey in Kahramanmaraş City, Turkey

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Abstract

Heavy metals in honey are of interest not only for quality control, but also for determination environmental contamination. The objective of this work was to determine distribution of the levels of selected heavy metals. Levels of copper (Cu), cadmium (Cd), manganese (Mn), Iron (Fe), magnesium (Mg) and nickel (Ni) in honey samples (21) in Kahramanmaraş region were determined by atomic absorption spectrometer (AAS). The mean values for Cu, Cd, Mn, Fe, and Mg were 0.01, 0.32, 0.03, 0.36 and 10.45 ppm, respectively. Nickel was not detected in honey samples. Kahramanmaraş honey samples were not free of heavy metals but the levels of them were found well below the permitted levels. The results suggested that honey may be useful for assessing the presence of environmental contaminants.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Food Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam, Kahramanmaraş, Turkey

    Feryal Erbilir

  2. Department of Food Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Kahramanmaraş Sütç Imam, Kahramanmaraş, Turkey

    Özlem Erdoĝrul

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  1. Feryal Erbilir
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  2. Özlem Erdoĝrul
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Correspondence to Özlem Erdoĝrul.

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Erbilir, F., Erdoĝrul, Ö. Determination of Heavy Metals in Honey in Kahramanmaraş City, Turkey. Environ Monit Assess 109, 181–187 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-005-5848-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-005-5848-2

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