Adulteration of beeswax: A first nationwide survey from Belgium.

Noëmie El Agrebi,Véronique Renault,Lidija Svečnjak,Claude Saegerman,Jean-Pierre Cravedi,Agnes Rortais,Jelena Horvatinec,Nicolas Chaline

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0252806

Abstract

Beeswax is intended for use in the beekeeping sector but also in the agro-food, pharmaceutical or cosmetics sectors. The adulteration of beeswax is an emerging issue that was reported lately at several occasions in the scientific literature. This issue tends to become more frequent and global, but its exact extent is not accurately defined. The present study aims to assess the current situation in Belgium through a nationwide survey. Randomized beeswax samples originating from Belgian beekeepers (N = 98) and commercial suppliers (N = 9) were analysed with a Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) coupled with Attenuated Total Reflectance (ATR) accessory (FTIR-ATR spectroscopy) for adulteration. The survey revealed a frequency of 9.2% and 33.3% of adulteration in beekeepers beeswax samples (9 samples out of 98: 2 with paraffin and 7 with stearin/stearic acid) and commercial beeswax samples (3 samples out of 9: all adulterated with stearin/stearic acid), respectively. The analysed samples were adulterated with various percentages of paraffin (12 to 78.8%) and stearin/stearic acid (1.2 to 20.8%). This survey indicates that in the beekeepers samples, beeswax adulteration was more frequent in comb foundation and crude beeswax than in comb wax. With the example of this nationwide survey conducted in Belgium, this study shows the emergence of the issue and the urgent need for action to safeguard the health of both honey bees health and humans, in particular with the setting of a proper regulation legal framework and a specific routine analytical testing of commercial beeswax to ensure beeswax quality.

Highlights

Honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) are the main pollinators in agricultural ecosystems [1]
Two spectral regions with target peak areas showing the best correlation between the instrument response and known proportions of adulterant in the adulterant-beeswax reference standards were chosen for further calibration process and quantification of adulterants in analysed beeswax samples
Beeswax adulteration is a fraud and an emerging issue. It brings the beekeeping sector into disrepute. This survey shows that adulteration by paraffin or stearin/stearic acid in crude beeswax and comb foundation is more frequent than in comb wax

Summary

Introduction

Honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) are the main pollinators in agricultural ecosystems [1]. Beeswax is essential for the beekeeping sector (production of comb foundations) and for agro-food, pharmaceutical and cosmetics sectors. In Europe, beeswax is considered as an animal by-. Grant: RF 15/6300 Bee Best Check; Funder #2: SPW ARNE (Service public de Wallonie, Agriculture, Ressources naturelles et Environnement); Grant: RWD32-0286 Bee Tox; Check Funder #3: University of Liège; Grant: FSRF-VT-16/16 Bee Tox Check; Funder #4: University of Zagreb Grant. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

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Conclusion