Evaluation of Acer rubrum Tree Bark as a Bioindicator of Atmospheric Heavy Metal Pollution in Toronto, Canada
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Evaluation of Acer rubrum Tree Bark as a Bioindicator of Atmospheric Heavy Metal Pollution in Toronto, Canada Muhammad Yousaf & Khakhathi L. Mandiwana & Khurram S. Baig & Julia Lu
Received: 22 March 2020 / Accepted: 13 July 2020 # Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Abstract The concentrations of heavy metal (copper (Cu), mercury (Hg), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn)) were measured in Acer(A.) pseudoplatanus tree bark to evaluate its suitability as a bioindicator of air pollution in downtown Toronto, Canada. The analysis of digested tree bark samples was carried out by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) for Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn, whereas a mercury analyzer was used to quantify Hg without sample pre-treatment. The concentrations of the analyzed heavy metals were found to be 26.4 μg g−1 for Cu, 51.7 μg kg−1 for Hg, 55.3 μg g−1 for Mn, 6.55 μg g−1 for Ni, 26.5 μg g−1 for Pb, and 95.2 μg g−1 for Zn. Analysis of background control tree barks (collected in a remote area) showed that maple tree barks in Toronto were strongly enriched with heavy metals, with their mean accumulation factors ranging between 1.88 (Mn) and 12.54 (Pb). The tree bark was also found to distinguish between impacted areas as the locations close to the roads with elevated M. Yousaf (*) : J. Lu Department of Chemistry and Biology, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, Ontario M5B 2K3, Canada e-mail: [email protected] K. L. Mandiwana Department of Chemistry, Tshwane University of Technology, P.O. Box 56208, Arcadia 0007, Pretoria, South Africa K. S. Baig School of Science and the Environment (Chemistry), Memorial University of Newfoundland, Grenfell Campus, 20 University Drive, Corner Brook, NL A2H 5G4, Canada
vehicular traffic showed higher metal contents. Therefore, it could be concluded that A. pseudoplatanus tree bark is a good bioindicator of atmospheric heavy metal pollution. Keywords A. pseudoplatanus . Heavy metals . Accumulation factor . Mercury analyzer . Inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry
1 Introduction Various activities in modern civilization have introduced a wide range of pollutants to the atmosphere. As a result of anthropogenic and natural emission, the atmospheric concentrations of heavy metals are increasing which are harmful to plants and animals. The effects of heavy metals depend mainly on their concentration, chemical form, and residence time (Mielke and Reagen 1998; Mladenovic and Dragoja 2012; Qiao et al. 2017). Biomonitoring is the measure of chemicals or their metabolites in an environment to assess the level of contamination. Biomonitoring is being increasingly used as a cost-effective alternative to instrumental methods for studying local air pollution to the terrestrial environment (Coskun 2006; Patrick and Farmer 2006; Suzuki 2006; Sadiwis et al. 2011; Serbula et al. 2012; Škrbić et al. 2012; Lodenius 2013; Marković et al. 2013; Poleschońska et al. 2013; Silva et al. 2013; Moreira et al. 2018). Lichens and mosses have already be
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