Paris Beehives Trace Notre-Dame’s Toxic Fallout
July 24, 2020
A study led by the Pacific Centre for Isotopic and Geochemical Research and the BeeHIVE Research Excellence Cluster showed that honey collected northwest of the Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris, downwind from the 2019 fire, contained nearly three times as much lead on average than did those from before the fire.
The study, conducted by Kate Smith (PhD candidate Geological Sciences) and Dominique Weis (Professor of Geochemistry in the department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences and Director of the Pacific Centre for Isotopic and Geochemical Research), is one of the first to explore the relationship between pollution from the fire and its impact on residents through a product they can ingest directly.
Dominique Weis was the recipient of a multi-year 2017 Wall Solutions Initiative Grant for a project titled Honey Bees as Bioindicators of Environmental Pollution.
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