Tree Bark as a Bioindicator for Arsenic and Heavy Metal Air Pollution in Rajnandgaon District, Chhattisgarh, India
Publication: Journal of Hazardous, Toxic, and Radioactive Waste
Volume 24, Issue 1
Abstract
Rajnandgaon district (Chhattisgarh, India) faces serious arsenic pollution problems. Tree bark could be a valuable indicator of As and heavy metals air contamination. In this study, road dust was sampled in 13 locations, finding As, Cr, Mn, Cu, Zn, and Pb concentrations in the 165–329 , 107–151 , 704–998 , 43–84, 61–117, and range, respectively. The sensitivity of bark from 32 tree species—widespread in the area of study—was assessed with a view to their utilization as bioindicators, and correlations between contaminant contents in the road dust and in the tree barks were calculated. The high accumulation of pollutants and strong correlations attained suggest that M. indica, P. sylvestris, E. globulus, D. sissoo, A. marmelos, and F. benghalensis may be promising choices for As, Cr, Cu, Mn, Zn, and Pb air quality monitoring, respectively.
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Acknowledgments
University Grant Commission (UGC), New Delhi, is gratefully acknowledged for awarding the Basic Science Research (BSR) grant [F.18-1/2011(BSR)2016] to Khageshwar Singh Patel (KSP).
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Journal of Hazardous, Toxic, and Radioactive Waste
Volume 24 • Issue 1 • January 2020
Copyright
©2019 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 15, 2019
Accepted: Jun 28, 2019
Published online: Sep 13, 2019
Published in print: Jan 1, 2020
Discussion open until: Feb 13, 2020
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