Determination of toxic and essential elements in sunflower honey from Thrace Region, Turkey

The aim of this study was to determine the levels of copper (Cu), manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn), iron (Fe), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni) and selenium (Se) in sunflower honeys obtained from Thrace Region of Turkey. Trace and toxic element determination was performed by atomic absorption spectrometry after microwave digestion. The accuracy of the method was checked by the standard reference material, NIST-SRM 1515 Apple leaves. The maximum contents of trace and toxic elements in honey samples from Kesan (polluted area) were found as 0.46, 0.82, 1.98, 14.0, 9.86 mu g kg-1, 0.48 mg kg-1, 137, 115 and 290 mu g kg-1 for Cu, Mn, Zn, Fe, Cd, Pb, Cr, Ni and Se, respectively.