Evaluation of the global prevalence of pesticide residues in honey and associated human health risk assessment

Widespread use of pesticides has led to a substantial occurrence of pesticide residues in honey, raising concerns about honey quality and human health. Despite global concerns, a comprehensive human health risk assessment across different population groups that integrates global data on pesticide residues in honey is lacking. This study systematically analyzed pesticide residue data in honey from 25 countries and identified 143 pesticides with concentrations ranging from 13.22 - 18152.00 µg kg -1 for insecticides, 2.56 - 174.30 µg kg -1 for herbicides, 4.10-386.00 µg kg -1 for fungicides, and 13.05-172.00 µg kg -1 for acaricides. The calculated mean daily intake (MDI) ranged from 2.00 × 10 -4 - 1.85, 4.11 × 10 -5 - 0.80 and 4.70 × 10 -5 - 0.82 µg kg -1 BW day -1 for children, males and females, respectively. Despite this variability, the estimated hazard index (HI) was found to be below the safety threshold (HI <1) for all population groups, revealing no potential health risk from honey consumption. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed no association between pesticide application intensity and pesticide contamination levels in honey. Furthermore, honey production was weakly correlated with pesticide application intensity (Pearson's r, -0.12) and pesticide residue occurrence in honey (Pearson's r, -0.04). The majority of countries exhibit strong positive correlations (Pearson's r, 0.97 to 1.00) with the overall HI, indicating a high degree of similarity in pesticide residue patterns and associated risk. The findings provide significant insights into the global pattern of pesticide residues in honey and highlight the need for sustainable agricultural practices, continuous monitoring and risk assessment frameworks to ensure global food safety.