Atmospheric Pollution and Air Quality Monitoring: Bioindication and Bioaccumulation

A special issue of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433). This special issue belongs to the section "Air Quality".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (24 July 2023) | Viewed by 2700

Special Issue Editor

Department of Mathematics and Physics, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, 81100 Caserta, Italy
Interests: radiocarbon; mosses; bryophytes; particulate matter; environmental pollution; radionuclides; heavy metals; metal adsorption

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The contamination of the atmosphere and the improvement of air quality still represent huge and pressing issues for the entire globe. They pose a challenge in terms of management and mitigation and require the deep investigation of pollutant concentrations and forms, their emission sources, and of their behavior in the various environmental compartments. Data on air quality provided by estimations and by conventional, law-regulated monitoring devices (e.g., passive samplers, continuous analyzers) can be inadequate to cover the whole range of pollutants present in the atmosphere, and to properly describe their spatial and temporal trends, especially due to their high cost and technical constraints.

To overcome these limitations, biomonitoring can provide qualitative and quantitative data on air quality at different spatial and temporal scales by using economic, easy-to-manage, and eco-friendly methods. Organisms such as algae, bryophytes, higher plants, lichens, and insects can be used, by virtue of peculiar morphological and physiological characteristics, as bioindicators or bioaccumulators to obtain quantitative and qualitative information about airborne chemical compounds (e.g., heavy metals, organic molecules, particulate matter) which play a crucial role in determining air pollution. The use of biomonitors can help to increase the density measurement points, and to individuate pollution sources and areas with high pollutant exposure risk. Nevertheless, although they are widely applied, biomonitoring techniques often lack standardization, and the mechanisms underlying the uptake of air pollutants by biomonitors are scarcely investigated.

In this Special Issue, we call for contributions that address the use of biomonitors for the evaluation of air pollution, the implementation and standardization of the biomonitoring techniques, and the comparison between different biomonitors or different air quality monitoring methodologies. For this Special Issue, we encourage the submission of research papers based on topics including, but not limited to, the characterization of biomonitor features involved in pollutant uptake, as well as the description of the monitored air pollutants in terms of the nature, properties and mechanisms of transfer between environmental compartments.

Dr. Anna Di Palma
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • biomonitors
  • contaminants
  • environmental pollution
  • air quality
  • airborne dust
  • pollutant uptake
  • air monitoring
  • PMs
  • metals

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

10 pages, 2006 KiB  
Communication
The Efficiency of Lichens in Air Biomonitoring in Teleorman County
by Maria Magdalena Cernat Popa and Carmen Otilia Rusănescu
Atmosphere 2023, 14(8), 1287; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14081287 - 15 Aug 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1015
Abstract
In this work, we collected samples of lichens from the oaks of Pădurea Troianul, in the area of Teleorman county, to analyze the air quality, using the lichen biodiversity index and its determining factor. We transplanted them to the points to be monitored [...] Read more.
In this work, we collected samples of lichens from the oaks of Pădurea Troianul, in the area of Teleorman county, to analyze the air quality, using the lichen biodiversity index and its determining factor. We transplanted them to the points to be monitored and analyzed them to detect and quantify the concentration of heavy metals or other toxic substances accumulated in the lichen biomass. This research was conducted at transplant sites, where five sample sites were chosen. We investigated the concentrations of the heavy metals Cd, Pb and Hg, making a comparison between the concentrations indicated by lichens and conventional measurements. The sampling, observation and analysis of lichens, we carried out in the months of September, October and November 2021, because in September the temperatures are higher and the degree of precipitation is lower than in November, so we followed a development of lichens covering different periods in terms of temperature and humidity. The comparison was made starting from the contamination factors obtained and measured in the sampling station. The application of the biomonitoring method allows obtaining an exact index of the purity of the atmosphere based on the tolerance of the transplanted lichens, the results being obtained quickly. Full article
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15 pages, 8756 KiB  
Article
Evaluation the Urban Atmospheric Conditions Using Micronuclei Assay and Stomatal Index in Tradescantia pallida
by Talita Daiane Bernardo Soares, Aline do Nascimento Rocha, Emerson Machado de Carvalho, Juliana Rosa Carrijo Mauad, Silvana Aparecida de Souza, Caio Augusto Mussury Silva and Rosilda Mara Mussury
Atmosphere 2023, 14(6), 984; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14060984 - 06 Jun 2023
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Abstract
Air pollution substantially damages ecosystems and public health and is one of the major challenges for air quality monitoring management. The use of the plant bioindicator Tradescantia pallida (Rose) D. R. Hunt has shown excellent results in terms of determining the effect of [...] Read more.
Air pollution substantially damages ecosystems and public health and is one of the major challenges for air quality monitoring management. The use of the plant bioindicator Tradescantia pallida (Rose) D. R. Hunt has shown excellent results in terms of determining the effect of airborne contaminants in urban environments, complementing conventional methods. The present study seeks to determine the air quality in the Ivinhema Valley, MS, using the variation in MCN frequency and stomatal indices of T. pallida as air pollution biomarkers. The biomonitoring tests were performed monthly by collecting floral and leaf buds during the summer, autumn, winter, and spring of 2021 in Angélica, Ivinhema, and Nova Andradina. The stomatal leaf density, influence of vehicle flow, and environmental variables such as altitude, temperature (°C), relative humidity (RH), and rainfall in the three cities under study with different urban vehicle intensities were analyzed. A significant increase in MCN was observed for the cities of Nova Andradina and Ivinhema in summer and spring. On the other hand, the city of Angélica had a low frequency of MCN throughout the experimental period. A seasonal and spatial pattern was also observed for the stomatal index, with significantly higher values for the city of Angélica in autumn and winter. Our data allowed observing that the MCN showed the greatest association with vehicular flow. The mutagenic effects observed in T. pallida, through the MCN frequency, constituted an important biomarker of air pollution, explained mainly by the relationship with the flow of vehicles. Full article
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