1,4-Dichlorobenzene and naphthalene
Testing for 1,4-DCB and naphthalene residues in Swiss honey was carried out at the Centre for Bee Research as part of the apisuisse quality seal programme.
In order to protect beeswax from pests, beekeepers used to use mothballs containing 1,4-dichlorobenzene (1,4-DCB) or naphthalene as the active ingredient, which were not authorised for use in beekeeping. This led to corresponding residues in the honey. The residue situation has improved steadily over the last few years, since the beekeepers no longer use mothballs. In 2013, none of the honey samples tested exceeded the legal tolerance level of 0.01mg/kg for 1,4-DCB. The apisuisse Honey Regulations maximum limit of 0.001mg/kg is 10 times lower than the legal limit. These strict requirements regarding 1,4-DCB residues were met by 99.5% of the ‘quality seal’ honey samples. Just one ‘quality seal’ honey sample exceeded the apisuisse quality seal maximum tolerance for 1,4-DCB. Naphthalene was not found in any of the honey samples, so all honeys met the apisuisse quality seal requirements regarding residues for this pesticide.
Unnötiger und kostspieliger Einsatz von Paradichlorbenzol verschmutzt Honig und Wachs (German (PDF, 47 kB, 14.09.2016), French (PDF, 48 kB, 15.09.2016) and Italian (PDF, 75 kB, 14.09.2016))
K. Seiler, H. Pfefferli, Th. Frey, B. Roux, P. Wenk, S. Bogdanov (2003)
