Research on the content of heavy metals and specific activity of radionuclides in bee’s wax depending on the conditions of raw material processing

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Relevance.Beeswax is a biologically active product that is widely used in the pharmaceutical, food, and cosmetics industries due to its regenerative, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties.However, beeswax can also accumulate radionuclides and heavy metals from the environment which, creates a need to develop effective methods for cleaning wax to ensure its safe use.The purpose of the study to determine the influence of wax raw material processing conditions on the content of heavy metals and the specific activity of radionuclides in beeswax. Materials and methods.In the conducted studies, two groups of bee colonies were formed according to the principle of analogues using different operating conditions of building frames.To assess the effect of pre-soaking of wax raw materials, three experimental batches were formed, which differed in water treatment modes.Studies of wax safety indicators were carried out taking into account the effect of the method of processing wax raw materials and the temperature of water during its soaking.To assess the quality of wax, generally accepted and special methods of physicochemical analysis, atomic absorption spectroscopy for determining the content of heavy metals, radiometric and radiochemical methods for assessing the specific activity of radionuclides, as well as mathematical and statistical methods for processing experimental data. Research results.It has been proven that repeatedly soaking wax raw materials until the transfer of non-wax components stops significantly reduces the specific activity of radionuclides (for example, 137 Cs and 90 Sr) and the concentration of heavy metals (for example, Pb and Cd) in wax.The specific activity of 137 Cs decreased by 35.9%, 90 Sr by 2.0 times, the concentrations of Pb and Cd by 2.4 and 6.0 times, respectively, which ensures increased radiological and toxicological safety of the product.By increasing the water temperature to 60 °C and and using a dry processing method further improves the cleaning efficiency, reducing the levels of contamination and improving the quality of wax.Conclusion.It was found that among the studied technological operations for processing wax raw materials (soaking frequency, water and air temperature, wet and dry processing methods), the highest efficiency of reducing the specific activity of radionuclides ( 137 Cs and 90 Sr) and the content of heavy metals (Pb and Cd) in wax was observed with repeated washing of non-wax components from wax raw materials until their transition to water was stopped.