The use of spider webs in the monitoring of air quality—A review

Abstract

Methods for using spider webs as passive air samplers have been developed over recent years and reported in more than a dozen articles. In this article, we present the typical procedures followed when using this new tool and critically review its application in air pollution assessment. To understand the state of research and application of spider webs in this field, we describe some advantages and disadvantages of their use in the analyses of air contaminants. The aim is to summarize the current knowledge on this subject, highlight gaps in the present studies, and arouse the interest of scientists on this issue. The increased effort could result in the standardization of the method at the national and international level.

Spider Ecology and Behaviour—Spiders as Model Organisms

“…More recently, it has also become evident that spiders, in addition to their intrinsic interest as fascinating and, illogically, feared animals, likely due to press misinformation [14], may be of direct benefit to society, a field we can call applied arachnology similar to, or a subset of, the more established field of applied entomology. Areas of particular interest to behaviour and ecology include their role as enemies of natural pests [15,16], their webs as indicators of pollution [17,18], and their significant potential in biomimetics, which is the inspiration, abstraction, and application of evolved processes or traits in biological organisms to our technology [19]. The biomimetics potential of spider behaviour includes biologically inspired locomotion and robotics [20,21], and using the spider web for inspiration for sensors [22] and light weight composite structures [23].…”

A New Technique for the Passive Monitoring of Particulate Matter: Olive Pollen Grains as Bioindicators of Air Quality in Urban and Industrial Areas

“…Bioindicators can be used as passive samplers alternatively to active sampling stations, to extend PM monitoring networks. Lichens [2,26] and spider webs [27][28][29][30][31] have been recently used as passive samplers for air pollution monitoring. Both bioindicators show good properties for collecting PM.…”

Health risk assessment in the vicinity of a copper smelter: particulate matter collected on a spider web

“…One of the newest tools used in biomonitoring is the application of spider web. Increasingly, it has become the subject of research by scientists due to its unique properties and the fact that it is easily accessible, cheap, and can provide sufficient information about air pollution (Bartz et al 2021;Górka et al 2018;Stojanowska et al 2022). In previous studies, spider web has been mostly used to discriminate particulate matter (PM) collected on its threads (Bartz et al 2021;Hose et al 2002;Rybak 2015;Xiao-li et al 2006).…”