Honey Bees as a Biomonitor for Air Pollutants

• Author(s) / Creator(s)

  • Marko, Olivia

• “Honey Bees as a Biomonitor for Air Pollutants” is a poster created for the Student Academic Conference for an environmental chemistry course at the University of Alberta - Augustana Campus. This research poster examines the mechanisms by which honey bees detect air pollutants in their environment and how bees are valuable biomonitors. The information highlights bees’ capacity to accurately identify four prevalent air pollutants: polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), particulate matter (PM), and heavy metals. This brief study explores the potential of honey bees to provide diverse sample types, each varying in accuracy, including propolis, foraging bees, pollen, and honey. The poster outlines a preliminary experimental design set in Alberta, which could allow further investigation of honey bees in Canada.

• Date created

  2024-04-18

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Honey Bees
  • Air Pollutants
  • Environmental Chemistry
  • Biomonitor
  • Biodetector
  • Bees
  • Alberta Oil Sands

• Type of Item

  Conference/Workshop Poster

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-c2hv-mz97

• License

  Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International