Assessment of insecticide residues in raw honey by high performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection

Insecticides residues are of serious concern due to their presence in many food stuffs. in the current investigations,an effort was made to evaluate and determine residues of six insecticides (imidacloprid,acetamaprid,cypermethrin,deltamethrin,chlorpyrifos and endosulfan) in raw honey samples of apis mellifera l. from the central multi-cropped districts of punjab province,pakistan. the honey samples were analyzed for insecticides residues using multiresidue analysis by high performance liquid chromatography ultraviolet detection. the mean recoveries obtained for spiked samples of honey at two fortification levels (0.1 and 0.01 mg/kg) ranged 77-94% with relative standard deviations less than 12%,for most of the insecticides. the residues of imidacloprid were detected in maximum samples,however the overall results for real honey samples showed that residues concentration detected,were below maximum residue limits and did not show a threat for human health. copyright 2015 zoological society of pakistan.