This study was conducted in the Syrian coastal region, and the honey samples have
been collected from eight different sites belonging to the provinces of Latakia and Tartous
during the autumn of 2012. Their content of heavy metals (zinc, copper, le
ad & cadmium)
was estimated by Atomic Absorption at the Higher Institute for Environmental Research at
Tishreen University. The results showed that zinc concentration in the bee honey samples
ranged from 2.86 to 12.64 mg / kg (mean 7.98±3.67), and copper ranged from 0.125 to
0.652 mg / kg (mean 0.328±0.176 ), lead ranged from 0.084 to 0.378 mg / kg (mean
0.205±0.112), cadmium ranged from 0.0002 to 0.0132 mg / kg (mean 0.0053±0.0052). The
results indicated that the largest amounts of heavy metals were found in honey sample
taken from the apiary which is located at the eastern entrance of Latakia city (near Joud
factory), while the lower concentrations of zinc and lead were in Banias area (Wadi Al
Saqi), and the least concentration of copper was in Safita area, and of cadmium was in the
Gablah area (Bani Qahtan Castle).Comparing elements concentration in the studied honey
samples, Zinc concentration was found to be the highest, followed by copper, lead and then
finally cadmium.The results of statistical analysis indicated the existence of significant
differences between the studied sites during the autumn of 2012.
