# Honey as a Bioindicator: Pollution's Effects on Its Quality in Mining vs. Protected Sites
## 4 Discussion  
Honey is a natural product valued not only for its taste but also for its health benefits, making food safety a key concern. The content of heavy metals in honey is an important indicator of its quality and purity [48]. Typically, clean honey contains low levels of heavy metals: Pb ranges from 0.01 to 0.05 mg/kg, with a maximum recommended limit of  
\begin{table} \begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c c} \hline
**Correlation** & **Phenols** & **Flavonoids** & **HMF** & **Pb, mg/kg** & **Cd, mg/kg** & **Fe, mg/kg** & **Cu, mg/kg** & **Zn, mg/kg** \\ \hline _C. albicans_ & \(-0.10\)* & \(-0.44\)* & \(0.20\)* & \(0.69\)* & \(0.58\)* & \(0.59\)* & \(-0.30\)* & \(0.87\)* \\ _A. flavus_ & \(-0.72\)* & \({}^{+11}\) & \(-0.34\)* & \(-0.88\)* & \({}^{+11}\) & \(-0.44\)* & \({}^{+9}\) & \(-0.33\)* & \(-0.80\)* & \({}^{+11}\) & \(0.23\)* & \(-0.29\)* \\ _A. niger_ & \(-0.10\)* & \(-0.44\)* & \({}^{+9}\) & \(0.20\)* & \({}^{+6}\) & \(0.69\)* & \({}^{+4}\) & \(0.59\)* & \({}^{+4}\) & \(-0.30\)* & \({}^{+9}\) & \(0.87\)* \\ _R. stolonifer_ & \(0.99\)* & \({}^{+2}\) & \(0.86\)* & \({}^{+3}\) & \(0.80\)* & \({}^{+3}\) & \(0.28\)* & \({}^{+6}\) & \(-0.26\)* & \({}^{+8}\) & \(0.71\)* & \({}^{+3}\) & \(0.24\)* & \({}^{+6}\) & \(-0.38\)* \\ _F. oxysporum_ & \(-0.54\)* & \({}^{+10}\) & \(-0.32\)* & \({}^{+9}\) & \(-0.47\)* & \({}^{+9}\) & \(-0.88\)* & \({}^{+11}\) & \(0.00\)* & \({}^{+7}\) & \(-0.99\)* & \({}^{+12}\) & \(-0.23\)* & \({}^{+8}\) & \(-0.28\)* \\ _P. chrysogenum_ & \(0.91\)* & \({}^{+2}\) & \(0.60\)* & \({}^{+4}\) & \(0.96\)* & \({}^{+2}\) & \(0.21\)* & \({}^{+6}\) & \(0.13\)* & \({}^{+6}\) & \(0.67\)* & \({}^{+4}\) & \(-0.14\)* & \({}^{+8}\) & \(-0.06\)* \\ _A. alternata_ & \(-0.82\)* & \({}^{+11}\) & \(-0.52\)* & \({}^{+10}\) & \(-0.98\)* & \({}^{+12}\) & \(0.18\)* & \({}^{+6}\) & \(-0.26\)* & \({}^{+8}\) & \(-0.33\)* & \({}^{+9}\) & \(0.37\)* & \({}^{+5}\) & \(0.12\)* \\ \hline \end{tabular}  Note: *  
0.10 mg/kg according to the Codex Alimentarius and EU regulations [21]; Cd is found in concentrations below 0.005 to 0.02 mg/kg, with a suggested limit of 0.05 mg/kg, though it is not uniformly regulated; As is generally present at levels below 0.01 mg/kg, with a general food limit of 0.1 mg/kg set by the EU; Hg is found at very low levels, under 0.002 mg/kg, with some national regulations allowing up to 0.01-0.02 mg/kg. Additionally, essential metals like Cu and Zn are found in concentrations of 0.1-0.5 mg/kg and 0.5-3 mg/kg, respectively, with maximum recommended limits of 2 mg/kg for copper and 5 mg/kg for zinc, according to FAO standards. Adhering to these limits is crucial to ensure safe consumption and to maintain consumer trust in the quality of honey [49]. The situation changes when polluted areas are considered. For instance, [PERSON] et al. [10] reported that Pb levels in honey from Lithuania ranged between 0.004 and 450.6 ug/kg. Similarly, [PERSON] et al. [15] found a high concentration of lead--451 ug/kg--in a honey sample collected from an urban area in North Carolina. The Pb content of honey samples from Italy ranged between 0.010 and 1.390 mg/kg [50]. A study in Iran by [PERSON] et al. [51] reported one of the highest Pb concentrations in honey globally, at 1627.82 ug/kg (1.6278 mg/kg), over 16 times the EU and Codex Alimentarius limits of 0.10 mg/kg. This suggests significant environmental contamination, likely from industrial activity, traffic, or polluted agricultural inputs. High lead concentrations in honey have been reported in several countries, including Israel, 2560 ug/kg [52]; Turkey, 800 ug/kg [53]; and Poland, 438 ug/kg [54]; highlighting potential environmental contamination in these regions. The maximum Zn concentrations reported in various studies vary significantly across regions. In Siena, Italy--an area with limited industrial activity--the maximum Zn concentration was 3.66 mg/kg [55]. Higher maximum levels have been observed in other countries, such as Hungary, where values up to 6.66 mg/kg were recorded [56].