DON’T brush away those cobwebs, especially if you suspect pollution may be affecting your health. Certain spiders’ webs turn out to be so good at trapping fine particles from the air that they make ideal detectors for toxic pollutants such as heavy metals and dioxins.
Grant Hose, an eco-toxicologist with the New South Wales Environment Protection Authority, made the discovery while studying the webs of spiders that live in the Grand Arch of the Jenolan Caves in the Blue Mountains in New South Wales, one of Australia’s oldest tourist attractions.
This limestone arch is 120 metres long and has a…
