apple_flower_with_bee.jpgThe scent of flowers may become a thing of the past, say researchers, who suggest pollution is destroying the natural perfume.

As well as swamping the more delicate fragrances, pollution breaks down the natural scents that flowers emit to attract insects. It also reduces the distance the fragrance can travel, meaning that bees, butterflies and other pollinating insects are less likely to be drawn to the flower, says the study published in the journal Atmospheric Environment.

Pollutants are also absorbed by flowers, this makes them uninviting to the insects needed to pollinate them.

It is said by scientists that this is also the reason for the deterioration of certain plants and insects.

Jose Fuentes, a professor of Environmental Sciences at the University of Virginia, who led the study said: “The greater the amount of pollutants in the air, the greater the rate of destruction of the flower scents.”

source: Telegraph.co.uk