Cavazzin, B;
MacDonell, C;
Green, N;
Rothwell, JJ;
(2024)
Air pollution biomonitoring in an urban-industrial setting (Taranto, Italy) using Mediterranean plant species.
Atmospheric Pollution Research
, 15
(6)
, Article 102105. 10.1016/j.apr.2024.102105.
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Abstract
This study presents the first report on the elemental composition of five Mediterranean plant species (Pinus pinaster, Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Nerium oleander, Olea europaea and Pittosporum heterophyllum) to trace industrial emissions in Taranto, Italy, a mixed-use industrial and urban setting. Potential metal sources include vehicular traffic, steel and cement plants, and a petrochemical refinery. Samples were collected from 29 sites covering the Tamburi-Lido Azzurro neighbourhood and the historical quarter Città Vecchia-Borgo. High concentrations of toxic metals were observed in all samples, with marked inter-species variability. Model based clustering identified two distinct groups, one dominated by pine needles with higher metal concentrations than the other group composed of the other four plant species. The contamination factor (CF) and pollution load index (PLI) indices which use background samples to standardise the level of pollution, were used to remove species effect allowing for direct site comparison. Spatial analysis of CF and PLI data identified pollution hotspots near industrial areas and major roads, with areas of little to no air pollution near green spaces. Statistical analysis of the CFs revealed the contribution of different sources to element emissions. Ni and Cr were primarily emitted from the steel plant and petrochemical refinery, while Fe and Al were associated with road traffic emissions, and geogenic elements Ca, Mg, K, and Na were linked to marine spray and Saharan dust. This study demonstrates that combining multiple plant species with pollution indices can be a cost-effective biomonitoring approach for assessing air pollution and creating a high-density spatial monitoring network.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Air pollution biomonitoring in an urban-industrial setting (Taranto, Italy) using Mediterranean plant species |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.apr.2024.102105 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apr.2024.102105 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © 2024 Turkish National Committee for Air Pollution Research and Control. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
| Keywords: | Biomonitoring, Urban-industrial area, Indices of pollution, Spatial analysis |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Statistical Science |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10189347 |
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