[Pesticide residues in honey]

Investigated were a total of 40 samples of flower honey from seven regions of the country (the districts of Mihailovgrad, Gorna Oryahovitsa, Turgovishte, Plovdiv, Pazarjik, Sliven, and Byala Slatina). In 20 per cent of the samples there were traces of the phosphororganic pesticides trichlorfon and DDVF, and in 32 per cent - traces of chlororganic insecticides - HChCH and DDE. The studies made use of the agar diffusion, thin layer chromatography, and gas chromatography methods. It was established that honey was a product that was negligibly contaminated with pesticides. The residual amounts found were minimal (0.0002 to 0.00060 ppm) and were within the range of the admissible Bulgarian and international standards concerning the respective pesticides in food products. These amounts were found to correspond to the values established by other authors.