Recent advances in the extraction, purification and analysis of emerging pesticides in honey products: A review

Honey is a natural sweet substance bees produce, frequently consumed by humans due to its high nutritional and antimicrobial value. This product can be manufactured in an environment exposed to agricultural pesticides, which can be transmitted by bees to the hives and thus present in the honey. These pesticides can affect the quality of honey and pose a risk to human health. Therefore, the surveillance of pesticide in honey is one of the requirements for ensuring consumer safety. In general, most pesticides are present in very low concentrations, so the search for analytical methods capable of identifying these residues in contaminated honey samples is necessary. This work aims to provide an overview of the current studies on pesticides, present at ultra-trace levels (ng.L-1) in different honey products, as well as available extraction and analysis techniques to assess the level of these contaminants. In addition, and focusing on the identification efficiency, advantages and disadvantages of these analytical methods were given. Finally, future trends and recommendations were shown in the light of the global results.