Friday, October 9, 2026
Science

Bees struggle to smell flowers when air pollutants combine

Bees, moths and other pollinating insects have a harder time smelling flowers in polluted air, according to research led by the University of Reading. Scientists analyzed 22 experimental studies on how the air pollutants ozone and nitrogen oxides (NOx) affect pollinators. Both pollutants make it har...

Bees struggle to smell flowers when air pollutants combine
Image: Phys.org
Bees, moths and other pollinating insects have a harder time smelling flowers in polluted air, according to research led by the University of Reading. Scientists analyzed 22 experimental studies on how the air pollutants ozone and nitrogen oxides (NOx) affect pollinators. Both pollutants make it harder for pollinators to find flowers by breaking down or altering the scents that flowers give off.

Originally published at Phys.org

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