Ecological risks of pesticide pollution of beekeeping products

The article is focused on the actuality of the ecological risks researching of pesticide pollution of agricultural soils, which are the feed and raw material base for beekeeping. There is mentioned the importance of permanent control over the content of dangerous toxicants, in particular chlororganic pesticides, in the bee honey and other beekeeping products in the article. The results of researching the content of residual amounts of persistent chlororganic pesticides hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) and dichlorodiphenyltrichlormethylmethane (DDT) in samples of the sunflower honey which are taken from the bee farm of three administrative districts of Cherkasy region are presented. Significant pollution of the sunflower honey from the bee farm which is placed in the village of Novoselytsia by residual amounts of pesticides is detected, the concentration of the sum of metabolites and isomers DDT exceeding the maximum allowable standards in 1.3 to 2.3 times. It should be noted that the determined concentrations of the above mentioned pesticide in the soil (from 6.41 to 23.53 mcg/kg for the MRL is equal 100 mcg/kg) cannot be a source of significant pollution of bee honey. It is suggested that the reason for the xenobiotic entering to bee products through the biological cycle (soil – honey plant – honey) is the presence in the range of honey collection area of anonactive compound of toxic chemicals, which is a powerful source of toxicants, including pesticides into environmental objects. It is detected the direct correlation dependance between the content of pesticides in honey and their concentration in the soil (in the range from r=0.61 for the village of Stebne to r=0.98 for villages of Novoselytsia and Chervone). The importance of assessment of ecological risks of environmental pollution by pesticide residues was proved, since even a small concentration of a toxic substance in soil, water, air, nectar or pollen of honey plants often leads to massive damage and death of bees. It is noted that honey can be used as a suitable bioindicator for assessing the ecological risks of environmental pollution by toxic substances, including chlororganic pesticides.