title: Apis mellifera ligustica, Spinola 1806 as bioindicator for detecting environmental contamination: a preliminary study of heavy metal pollution in Trieste, Italy.
abstract: Honeybees have become important tools for the ecotoxicological assessment of soil, water and air metal contamination due to their extraordinary capacity to bioaccumulate toxic metals from the environment. The level of heavy metal pollution in the Trieste city was monitored using foraging bees of Apis mellifera ligustica from hives owned by beekeepers in two sites strategically located in the suburban industrial area and urban ones chosen as control. The metal concentration in foraging bees was determined by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. The chemical analysis has identified and quantified 11 trace elements accumulated in two different rank orders: Zn> Cu > Sr > Bi > Ni > Cr > Pb = Co > V > Cd > As in foraging bees from the suburban site and Zn > Cu > Sr > Cr > Ni > Bi > Co = V > Pb > As > Cd in bees from urban site. Data revealed concentrations of Cr and Cu significantly higher and concentration of Cd significantly lower in bees from urban sites. The spatial difference and magnitude order in heavy metal accumulation along the urban-suburban gradient are mainly related to the different anthropogenic activity within sampled sites and represent a risk for the human health of people living in the city. We discussed and compared results with the range of values reported in literature.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Biologia, Ecologia e Scienze della Terra, Università della Calabria, Via P. Bucci, 87036, Rende, Italy. anita.giglio@unical.it.
authors.forename: Anita
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6513-5027
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Giglio
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita, Università degli Studi di Trieste, Via Giorgieri 5, 34127, Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ammendola
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita, Università degli Studi di Trieste, Via Giorgieri 5, 34127, Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Battistella
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Chimica e Tecnologie Chimiche, Università della Calabria, Via P. Bucci, 87036, Rende, Italy.
authors.forename: Attilio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Naccarato
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita, Università degli Studi di Trieste, Via Giorgieri 5, 34127, Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pallavicini
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita, Università degli Studi di Trieste, Via Giorgieri 5, 34127, Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Simeon
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Chimica e Tecnologie Chimiche, Università della Calabria, Via P. Bucci, 87036, Rende, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tagarelli
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita, Università degli Studi di Trieste, Via Giorgieri 5, 34127, Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: Piero Giulio
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Giulianini
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001151:Arsenic / Q000032:analysis*; D001516:Bees / Q000737:chemistry*; D002947:Cities; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D004787:Environmental Pollution / Q000032:analysis*; D007221:Industry; D007558:Italy; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D019216:Metals, Heavy; D001151:Arsenic
keywords: Air pollution; Bioaccumulation; Honey bee; Human health; Monitoring