Diesel fumes alter half the flower smells bees need

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-10/uos-sas101915.php

Public Release: 19-Oct-2015
Scents and sense ability: Diesel fumes alter half the flower smells bees need
University of Southampton

In polluted environments, diesel fumes may be reducing the availability of almost half the most common flower odours that bees use to find their food, research has found.

The new findings suggest that toxic nitrous oxide (NOx) in diesel exhausts could be having an even greater effect on bees' ability to smell out flowers than was previously thought.

NOx is a poisonous pollutant produced by diesel engines which is harmful to humans, and has also previously been shown to confuse bees' sense of smell, which they rely on to sniff out their food.

Researchers from the University of Southampton and the University of Reading found that there is now evidence to show that, of the eleven most common single compounds in floral odours, five have can be chemically altered by exposure to NOx gases from exhaust fumes.

Lead author Dr Robbie Girling, from the University of Reading's Centre for Agri-Environmental Research (formerly of University of Southampton), said: "Bees are worth millions to the British economy alone, but we know they have been in decline worldwide.

"We don't think that air pollution from diesel vehicles is the main reason for this decline, but our latest work suggests that it may have a worse effect on the flower odours needed by bees than we initially thought.

"People rely on bees and pollinating insects for a large proportion of our food, yet humans have paid the bees back with habitat destruction, insecticides, climate change and air pollution.

"This work highlights that pollution from dirty vehicles is not only dangerous to people's health, but could also have an impact on our natural environment and the economy."

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