Honey bees have been shown to act as sentinels for certain human health hazards. Our contaminant maps for two different industrial areas near Tacoma delineated areas where children were known either to have elevated levels of heavy metals in their hair and blood or to have a high incidence of respiratory disease. We also investigated a beekeeper's report of severe bee kills near Mill Creek, Montana, that occurred in spring 1982. Years later, the Center for Disease Control and the US EPA discovered that children living in the area had unacceptably high levels of toxic metals in their blood. Subsequently, all families living in this area were relocated to protect their health.

A Seattle Beekeeper Sampling His Bees

In both of these case studies, bees exhibited bioaccumulation of toxic chemicals, and we documented bee mortality due to the exposure to these chemicals. In other studies, we found that honey bees can serve as biomarkers for substances hazardous to both bees and humans. For example, exposure to cadmium causes increased production of metallothionein proteins; while exposure to certain pesticides inhibits acetylchlolinesterase in both bees and people.

References:

Cronn, R.C. 1991. Determination of Cadmium Toxicity and the Relationship between Dose and Metallothionein levels in the honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) M.S. Thesis. The University of Montana, Missoula, MT.