Propolis is a honeybee product which contains lead as one of the main contaminants. Taking into account that
this product is used in the food industry, the Código Alimentario Argentino establishes maximum allowable
level for raw propolis. Therefore, in this study an electroanalytical method to determine this metal in Argentina
rawpropolis samples was developed. A bismuth film electrode plated on a modified glassy carbon electrodewas
prepared. The use of these electrodes has been proposed as an alternative to mercury film electrodes in electroanalytical
chemistry due to lowtoxicity of bismuth (environmentally friendly metal). The method presents a linear
range between 1 and 50 μg L−1 of Pb(II). The limits of detection and quantification were 0.6 μg L−1 and
1.84 μg L−1, respectively. The reproducibility and repeatability calculated as the relative standard deviations
were 7.4% and 7.0%, respectively. The sample throughput was 21 sample h−1. Argentina raw propolis samples
were analyzed and some of them showed high levels of lead. The obtained results with this method are in
good agreement with that obtained with the ICP-AES technique.Moreover, it is a good alternative to the quality
control of raw propolis.