Title: Quercus ilex as bio-indicator of metal pollution in the area of the Terni, Italy

Authors: Loretta Gratani; Maria Fiore Crescente; Rosangela Catoni; Ilaria Rita Guiducci; Donatella Bartoli; Gaia Piccini; Romina Quondam Luigi; Federica Rocchi; Laura Varone

Addresses: Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, P. le A. Moro, 5, 00185 Rome, Italy ' Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, P. le A. Moro, 5, 00185 Rome, Italy ' Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, P. le A. Moro, 5, 00185 Rome, Italy ' Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, P. le A. Moro, 5, 00185 Rome, Italy ' U.O.L.M. ARPA Umbria, Sito di Terni, Via Carlo Alberto dalla Chiesa, 32, 06100 Terni, Italy ' U.O.L.M. ARPA Umbria, Sito di Terni, Via Carlo Alberto dalla Chiesa, 32, 06100 Terni, Italy ' U.O.L.M. ARPA Umbria, Sito di Terni, Via Carlo Alberto dalla Chiesa, 32, 06100 Terni, Italy ' U.O.L.M. ARPA Umbria, Sito di Terni, Via Carlo Alberto dalla Chiesa, 32, 06100 Terni, Italy ' Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, P. le A. Moro, 5, 00185 Rome, Italy

Abstract: Trees are effective scavengers of both gaseous and particulate pollutants from the atmosphere. The objective of this research was to evaluate heavy metal pollution in the territory of the steel factory 'Acciai Speciali Terni S.p.A' (Italy) by monitoring Quercus ilex trees naturally growing in the area. Measurements were carried out at three sites (site 1, 2 and 3) at different distances from the steel factory (1.9, 2.3 and 7.2 km from the factory, respectively). The most part of the metals (As, Ba, Cd, Cr, Fe, Ni, Pb, V and Zn) had a decreasing trend from site 1 to site 3. Among them, Cr showed the highest decrease (97%) and Zn the lowest (44%). At a morphological level, leaf mass area (LMA) was lower at site 3 (12.9±1.0 mg cm−2) than at site 1 (14.9±1.1 mg cm−2). The same trend was observed for leaf thickness significantly decreasing by 38% from site 1 to site 3. Overall, the results highlighted a high responsiveness of Q. ilex, making it a good bio-indicator for the long-term monitoring of metal concentration variations in the territory of the steel factory.

Keywords: Quercus ilex; metal pollution; leaf morphology; leaf rolling; steel factory; Italy.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEP.2018.099465

International Journal of Environment and Pollution, 2018 Vol.64 No.4, pp.328 - 340

Accepted: 19 Oct 2018
Published online: 06 May 2019 *

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