Overview
Papa and colleagues used SEM/EDX to characterize inorganic particles on pollen grains carried by forager bees at an industrial peri-urban site and a rural control near Parma. Pollen from the industrial site carried particles of iron alloys, barite and lead-, zinc- and antimony-bearing phases attributed to traffic and the incinerator, while control pollen carried mainly natural minerals. No metal concentrations were measured.
Key numbers
- No concentrations are reported. Table 1 lists the presence of particle types (for example heavy-metal particles containing zinc, lead, antimony and tin) by sampling month.
- Control pollen carried no more than three particles per grain, all natural mineral phases (Section 3).
Methods (brief)
Hind legs with pollen loads were dissected from forager bees and mounted for scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray point analysis. Particles were assigned to mineral phases and likely emission sources.
Evidence Fitness
Qualitative particle evidence on 40 pollen grains from two sites. It shows that metal-bearing particles can reach bee pollen near traffic and incineration, but it gives no µg/kg values and cannot be used for occurrence or exposure estimates.