Elucidating the Role of Honey Bees as Biomonitors in Environmental Health Research

SIMPLE SUMMARY: The increasing release of harmful pollutants into our environment threatens our health. To detect these dangerous substances, scientists are using special detectors called “biomonitors”, and honey bees are some of the most helpful ones. Honey bees collect pollutants from the air, soil, and water when they go out to find food, which makes them exceptional indicators of what is going on in our environment. In our recent study, we looked at how well honey bees can help us monitor pollutants from an environmental health perspective. We searched through scientific databases and found 19 studies on this topic published between 2010 and 2020. Most of these studies looked at heavy metals in honey bees and hive products like honey. The whole honey bee was found to be the most reliable biomonitor. Overall, this research tells us that honey bees can help us monitor pollutants in our environment. ABSTRACT: Recently, the One Health concept, which recognizes the interconnectedness of environmental, animal, and human health, has gained popularity. To collect data on environmental pollutants potentially harmful to human health over time, researchers often turn to natural organisms known as biomonitors. Honey bees, in particular, prove to be exceptionally valuable biomonitors due to their capacity to accumulate pollutants from the air, soil, and water within a specific radius during their foraging trips. This systematic literature review summarizes the previous application of the bee species Apis mellifera in pollutant monitoring in articles published during the period of 2010–2020. Nineteen studies were included in this systematic literature review. Of these studies, the majority (n = 15) focused on the detection of heavy metals in honey bees and beehive products, while 4 studies focused on air pollution by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or particulate matter. The matrix most often applied was the whole honey bee. The included studies demonstrated that honey bees and hive products deliver quantitative and qualitative information about specific pollutants. In this regard, the whole honey bee was found to be the most reliable biomonitor. We found that the included studies differed in design and the methods used. Standardized studies could foster a more consistent interpretation of the levels detected in beehive matrices from an environmental health perspective.