Particulate Matter Contamination of Bee Pollen in an Industrial Area of the Po Valley (Italy)

The global demand for bee pollen as a dietary supplement for human nutrition is increasing. Pollen, which comprises proteins and lipids from bees’ diets, is rich in essential amino acids, omega fatty acids, and bioactive compounds that can have beneficial effects on human health. However, bee pollen may also contain contaminants due to environmental contamination. To date, data on bee pollen contamination by environmental pollutants refer almost exclusively to pesticides and heavy metals, and very little information is available on the potential contamination of bee pollen by airborne particulate matter (PM), a ubiquitous pollutant that originates from a wide range of anthropogenic sources (e.g., motor vehicles, industrial processes, agricultural operations). In the present study, pollen grains collected by forager bees living in an industrial area of the Po Valley (Northern Italy) were analyzed for contamination by inorganic PM. The morpho-chemical characterization of inorganic particles using SEM/EDX allowed us to identify different emission sources and demonstrate the potential risk of PM entering the food chain and exposing bees to its ingestion.