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The use of palm leaves as a bioindicator of atmospheric pollution
ht. J. Appl. R&x. ht. Vol. 36. No. 4. pp. 321-322, C Pergamon Press Ltd 1985. Printed in Great Britain. 0020-708X, 85 53.00 + 0.00
1985
Table I. Parts per million (dry weight) for an average of four leavn and four soil samples from each site, A and B
Fe Ni CU Zn
The Use of Palm Leaves as a Bioindicator of Atmospheric Pollution
Ga AS Br Rb Sr Zr Pb
N. S. SALEH, A. B. HALLAK and A. M. OTHMAN Department
of Physics, University of Jordan, Jordan
Soil (ppm)
dives (mm) Element Mtl
Amman,
A
A
B
58 490 2.5 34 380 10.8 22 3429 85 21 1.7 304
20 194 1.2 14 22 -
B
10.5 5013 3.1 II 13 0.7 2.1 I5 13 73 70 81
5 41 17 7 6.7
4.9
I I10 2.9 II 4.4 0.7
2.8
0.3 19 53 92 4.5
(Received 18 June 1984: in revisedform 27 September 1984)
intersection of several roads in the center of the capital city, and has a very high traffic density. Site B is located 6 km west of A and by an open lawn. Results of the analyses of the two sites are listed in Table 1. The data clearly confirm the expected presence of high metal contents in roadside plants and soil and show that the lead level in plants and soil”’ is significantly higher at the roadside site A than at the field site B. In addition, the very strong fall-off in Br concentration for almost all samples indicates another form of automotive pollution which may be accounted for by the additive Pb(CH?), Br in gasoline. The fall off in the level of Fe and Sr was more rapid than the linear dependence exhibited by Pb and Br (Fig. I). This suggests that perhaps the Fe and Sr are not related to roadside pollution. A previous study which employed radically different analysis techniques also noted a drop off with distance from roadside sites for Pb, Zn, Fe, and Sr.16’
The ease of employing energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) analysis to studies relating to the metal content of soils and to the metal uptake in plants has been demonstrated in an investigation concerning the effect of automative pollution on the abundance of about 12 elements accumulated in the leaves of palm trees and in the surrounding soil. Elemental concentrafions showed that the EDXRF method is useful and sensitive for measuring the pollution of plant material.
1. Introduction Energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence analysis is an effective technique for making rapid and economical multielemental analyses of a wide range of biological and environmental samples.“.” This work refers to an ideal application of this technique, i.e. the study of the metal deposition from pollutent sources, and specifically, to the relationship between the amount of metal present in soil taken from various locations and metal uptake in palm leaves. The present paper outlines some of the results of determinations of 12 elements in about 20 specimens of palm leaves and its surrounding soil.
6. Conclusion Palm leaves are very good bioindicators of air pollution with several metals including lead and zinc and with some other elements. In those areas where palm trees are naturally cultivated, a very simple EDXRF analysis can be made to measure elemental content of palm leaves and give good information of elemental pollution.
2. Experimental Palm leaves were collected from ten locations. Immediately following sample collection, the leaves were washed with deionized distilled water and dried in an oven for three days at 95’C. The dried leaves were pulverized into a fine powder and pressed into pellets of 25 mm in diameter and 1 mm thickness. All the soil samples were air dried, finely pulverized and pressed into pellet form. The pellets prepared in this way are thick samples and absorption corrections were carried out.(‘) As described previously,‘4) our EDXRF system included s5Fe and ‘OpCdexciting sources and a Si(Li) detector. The pulses from the detector are processed in a minicomputer which directly displays the x-ray energy spectra. The area under each peak is related to the abundance of the element through a factor which incorporates the effects of x-ray emission and absorption and the detection efficiency for the various elements. Ol
0
3. Results and Discussion Ten sample sites were chosen. Site A, the first of the two sample sites to be discussed here, is directly adjacent to an
1
f
I
la00
zoo0
3000
Bromine
concentration
1 ppm)
Fig. 1. Correlation curve between concentrations of Pb and Br. 321
Technical Note
322
References I. Nazer I. K., Hallak A. B., Abu-Gharbiem W. I. and Saleh N. S. /. Radiomrul. Chem. 74, I I3 (1982). 2. Lieser K. H., Schmidt R. and Bowitz R. Z. AMY. Chcm. 314, 41 (1983).
3. Hallak A. B. and Saleh N. S. X-Ray Specrrom. 12, 148 (1983). 4. Hallak A. B. and Saleh N. S. Dirusur 9, 39 (1982). 5. Chow T. J. Nature 225, 295 (1970). 6. Warren H. V. En&acour 31, 46 (1972).
1985
Table I. Parts per million (dry weight) for an average of four leavn and four soil samples from each site, A and B
Fe Ni CU Zn
The Use of Palm Leaves as a Bioindicator of Atmospheric Pollution
Ga AS Br Rb Sr Zr Pb
N. S. SALEH, A. B. HALLAK and A. M. OTHMAN Department
of Physics, University of Jordan, Jordan
Soil (ppm)
dives (mm) Element Mtl
Amman,
A
A
B
58 490 2.5 34 380 10.8 22 3429 85 21 1.7 304
20 194 1.2 14 22 -
B
10.5 5013 3.1 II 13 0.7 2.1 I5 13 73 70 81
5 41 17 7 6.7
4.9
I I10 2.9 II 4.4 0.7
2.8
0.3 19 53 92 4.5
(Received 18 June 1984: in revisedform 27 September 1984)
intersection of several roads in the center of the capital city, and has a very high traffic density. Site B is located 6 km west of A and by an open lawn. Results of the analyses of the two sites are listed in Table 1. The data clearly confirm the expected presence of high metal contents in roadside plants and soil and show that the lead level in plants and soil”’ is significantly higher at the roadside site A than at the field site B. In addition, the very strong fall-off in Br concentration for almost all samples indicates another form of automotive pollution which may be accounted for by the additive Pb(CH?), Br in gasoline. The fall off in the level of Fe and Sr was more rapid than the linear dependence exhibited by Pb and Br (Fig. I). This suggests that perhaps the Fe and Sr are not related to roadside pollution. A previous study which employed radically different analysis techniques also noted a drop off with distance from roadside sites for Pb, Zn, Fe, and Sr.16’
The ease of employing energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) analysis to studies relating to the metal content of soils and to the metal uptake in plants has been demonstrated in an investigation concerning the effect of automative pollution on the abundance of about 12 elements accumulated in the leaves of palm trees and in the surrounding soil. Elemental concentrafions showed that the EDXRF method is useful and sensitive for measuring the pollution of plant material.
1. Introduction Energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence analysis is an effective technique for making rapid and economical multielemental analyses of a wide range of biological and environmental samples.“.” This work refers to an ideal application of this technique, i.e. the study of the metal deposition from pollutent sources, and specifically, to the relationship between the amount of metal present in soil taken from various locations and metal uptake in palm leaves. The present paper outlines some of the results of determinations of 12 elements in about 20 specimens of palm leaves and its surrounding soil.
6. Conclusion Palm leaves are very good bioindicators of air pollution with several metals including lead and zinc and with some other elements. In those areas where palm trees are naturally cultivated, a very simple EDXRF analysis can be made to measure elemental content of palm leaves and give good information of elemental pollution.
2. Experimental Palm leaves were collected from ten locations. Immediately following sample collection, the leaves were washed with deionized distilled water and dried in an oven for three days at 95’C. The dried leaves were pulverized into a fine powder and pressed into pellets of 25 mm in diameter and 1 mm thickness. All the soil samples were air dried, finely pulverized and pressed into pellet form. The pellets prepared in this way are thick samples and absorption corrections were carried out.(‘) As described previously,‘4) our EDXRF system included s5Fe and ‘OpCdexciting sources and a Si(Li) detector. The pulses from the detector are processed in a minicomputer which directly displays the x-ray energy spectra. The area under each peak is related to the abundance of the element through a factor which incorporates the effects of x-ray emission and absorption and the detection efficiency for the various elements. Ol
0
3. Results and Discussion Ten sample sites were chosen. Site A, the first of the two sample sites to be discussed here, is directly adjacent to an
1
f
I
la00
zoo0
3000
Bromine
concentration
1 ppm)
Fig. 1. Correlation curve between concentrations of Pb and Br. 321
Technical Note
322
References I. Nazer I. K., Hallak A. B., Abu-Gharbiem W. I. and Saleh N. S. /. Radiomrul. Chem. 74, I I3 (1982). 2. Lieser K. H., Schmidt R. and Bowitz R. Z. AMY. Chcm. 314, 41 (1983).
3. Hallak A. B. and Saleh N. S. X-Ray Specrrom. 12, 148 (1983). 4. Hallak A. B. and Saleh N. S. Dirusur 9, 39 (1982). 5. Chow T. J. Nature 225, 295 (1970). 6. Warren H. V. En&acour 31, 46 (1972).