Chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticide residues in Tennessee honey and beeswax

Several samples of commercial grade honey collected from different parts of tennessee during the summer of 1973 were analyzed for chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticide (CHI) residues. A "Modified Mill's Procedure" was used to cleanup the samples prior to gas chromatographic analysis using electron capture (EC) detection. The presence of CHI residues was confirmed by analysis on three different columns of widely varying polarity. Most of the samples contained CHI residues at 0.01-0.30 parts per billion (ppb) level. Beeswax produced during the same season contained several times higher levels of the residue than the honey samples. Recoveries of CHI residues varied from 81-95 percent by the procedure employed.