Determination of 2-chloroethanol in honey, beeswax, and pollen

Procedures were developed and tested for the determination of residues of 2-chloroethanol (ethylene chlorohydrin, ECH) in honey, beeswax, and pollen. Recoveries of ECH from fortified samples averaged 91, 87, and 89%, respectively, for each substrate. The maximum amount of ECH found in substrate fumigated with ethylene oxide was 36 micrograms/g in honey, 124 micrograms/g in beeswax, and 132 micrograms/g in pollen. A tendency was noted for darker waxes, which contain larger amounts of naturally occurring chlorides than light-colored waxes, to contain the greater amounts of ECH. A gas-liquid chromatograph equipped with a Dohrmann halogen-specific detector was used for identification and quantitation.