Agricultura – Ştiinţă şi practică no. 1 – 2 (101-102)/2017 Agriculture - Science and Practice - 31 - POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS AND HEAVY METALS CONTAMINATION IN HONEY FROM CLUJ COUNTY, ROMANIA Simedru Dorina, A. Becze, O. Cadar, M. Roman, C. Tanaselia⃰ INCDO-INOE 2000, Research Institute for Analytical Instrumentation, 67 Donath, 400293 Cluj-Napoca, Romania, *Corresponding author: claudiu.tanaselia@icia.ro Abstract. Several honey samples from Cluj County and one sample from its territorial limit were investigated in order to establish their contamination degree in relation with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and heavy metals. High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) techniques were used in order to perform the proposed analysis. The HPLC analysis showed that the investigated honey samples have close concentrations of PAH. Benzo[a]pyrene, the representative marker of PAH in food have a concentration lower than limit of detection. Low concentration of heavy metals (As, Cd, Pb and Sr) in honey samples were obtained by ICP-MS analysis. The obtained results suggest that the investigated honey samples are appropriate for human consumption. Keyword: honey, PAH, heavy metals, HPLC, ICP-MS INTRODUCTION Bee products such as honey are used in human diet for centuries. The use of honey is mentioned even in old and new testaments of Bible and Holy Quran [1]. Honey is a natural supersaturated sugar solution, which contains certain minor constituents like enzymes (glucose oxidase, catalase, phosphatases), glucose and sucrose (65–75% of total soluble solids), proteins, amino and organic acids, vitamins, lipids, volatile chemicals, flavonoids, phenolic acids, and minerals [2]. The biochemical properties of honey and its quality are related to honey maturity, climatic conditions, production methods, processing and storage conditions, as well as the nectar source of the honey [2]. Although for general population there is no doubt that honey is a natural, clean and healthy product, the number of scientific papers presenting real data on honey contaminants is increasing. Since honeybees are able to fly even 4 km per day for collecting nectar, it is possible to detect certain undesirable compounds and/ or residual molecules from different human activities. Likewise, abiotic factors such as air, water, and soils may be polluted with metals and they may play an important role in transferring residues to honey [3]. This conclusion was reported by several authors who consider honey as an environmental marker due to its ability to contain harmful pollutants such as Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons [4] and trace elements [5]. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a large group of chemical contaminants [6] with properties negatively impacting the human organism such as carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, etc. [7]. The main exposure source of PAHs for most of the population is inhaled air and foodstuffs [8]. It is considered that the major route for non- smokers is consumption of food 9, 10], which can be contaminated from environmental