Method optimisation for large scope pesticide multiresidue analysis in bee pollen: A pilot monitoring study.

• Proven efficacy of automated clean-up on bee pollen's pesticides extracts. • Pesticides contamination in 85 % of bee pollen samples. • Pesticides concentration higher than the corresponding MRL in 40 % of samples. • No relevant differences in the contamination of organic and conventional bee pollen. • No potential health risk due to bee pollen's pesticides content could be predicted. Pesticide contamination in emerging foods and supplements is currently a topic of great interest. This study focused on the evaluation of pesticide residues in commercial bee pollen samples to evaluate the risk associated with their consumption. To this end, an automated clean-up method for the pesticide extracts of bee pollen was developed. An LC-MS/MS and a GC-MS/MS method were validated for the analysis of 353 pesticides in 80 bee pollen samples purchased from different countries. The results showed the presence of 77 different pesticide residues in bee pollen, including plant protection chemicals and veterinary treatments. 85 % of the samples were contaminated with pesticides and no relevant differences were found between conventional and organic samples. Pesticide concentrations exceeding the imposed MRL were found in 40 % of the samples, but the risk assessment showed that consumers are not exposed to an unacceptable risk when consuming the evaluated bee pollen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]