There are various methods of monitoring the quality of the environment using bioindicators. Biomonitoring provides ecologists with an insight into the impact of all abiotic and biotic factors in an ecosystem. Dresden International Airport runs an annual biomonitoring project involving bees. A one-off biomonitoring programme with curly kale was performed in 2008.
Flughafen Dresden GmbH is running a special project to investigate problems caused by the pollutants from aircraft. At regular intervals during the bee year, two bee colonies are kept on the airport grounds to monitor emissions from incoming and outgoing aircraft. This living organism is used to establish the spread of pollutants. In this investigation, the properties of the bee as an indicator and collector and the possible accumulation of pollutants in the pollen, beeswax and honey are used to monitor and assess emissions in the area under observation.
Bees absorb pollutants directly from water or the air, or indirectly via the nectar and pollen they collect. As bees can cover an area of up to 12 square kilometres in their quest for food, biomonitoring can provide a representative overview of the composition of the pollution burden, thus producing a picture of the environmental conditions in the harvest area.
Flughafen Dresden GmbH commissioned beekeeper Ekkehard Rambach from Langebrück (pictured) to look after two of his bee colonies on the airport grounds. He sets up the hives next to the wood adjoining the perimeter fence. The bees’ action radius (between 2 and 4 kilometres) therefore covers both the site of the runway and the nearby town of Weixdorf and areas to the north-west of the A4 motorway. Part of the harvest from the spring and summer yield is used as sampling material for lab tests. Two approved institutions analyse the honey samples. Zirndorf-based analytical services provider Orga Lab GmbH, which is ISO 17025 accredited and licensed under Section 14 of the German Medicines Act, tests the samples for traces of heavy metals, PAHs and BTEX. These parameters are regarded as typical traffic-related substances.
No, or only extremely low, concentrations of heavy metals have been found in the samples. Any traces are well below EU recommended maximum levels. No PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) or BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene) have been found. There are therefore no significant traffic-related contaminants in the honey.
The quality of the honey was awarded top marks by the Bavarian Regional office for Wine-Growing and Horticulture, the body commissioned to perform the analysis. »As far as the investigated quality properties are concerned, the honey meets the requirements of the German Honey Ordinance and complies with the provisions of the German Beekeepers’ Association«, the test reports on both the spring and summer yield confirm. The results were also corroborated for Nuremberg, Hamburg, Cologne Bonn, Hannover and Lubeck Airports in similar investigations there.
Biomonitoring was first carried out at Dresden Airport in 2004. It is repeated at regular intervals to prove that the results were not simply a flash in the pan. The honey harvested is presented to guests as a gift.
Planting on 16 July 2008 (left to right): Dieter Hoefer (Dresden Press Club), Andreas Searty (Hilton Dresden), Dr. Michael Hupe (Dresden Airport)
Harvesting on 18 December 2008: Dresden Airport CEO Dr. Michael Hupe selects the pick of the crop of this vitamin C-rich vegetable..
Handover on 18 December 2008: Kale King Dr. Michael Hupe – sceptre in hand – presents the curly kale to the Hilton Dresden’s head chef.
A second eco-project, involving growing curly kale, was carried out in 2008. This indicator plant can be used to trace pollutants in the air and in the ground. Dr. Michael Hupe, CEO of Flughafen Dresden GmbH, was Dresden’s Kale King at the time, which gave rise to the idea of planting curly kale. The airport’s curly kale was awarded top marks and was subsequently cooked and served in the Hilton Dresden Hotel restaurant.
