Heavy Metal Contamination of Tree Leaves

Khageshwar Singh Patel¹, Reetu Sharma¹, Nohar Singh Dahariya¹, Ankit Yadav¹, Borislav Blazhev², Laurent Matini³, Jon Hoinkis⁴

¹School of Studies in Chemistry/Environmental Science, Pt. Ravishankar Shukla University, Raipur, India.
²Central Laboratory for Chemical Testing and Control, Sofia, Bulgaria.
³Department of Exact Sciences, E.N.S., Marien Ngouabi University, Brazzaville, Congo.
⁴Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences, Karlsruhe, Germany.

DOI: 10.4236/ajac.2015.68066                

Abstract

The study of heavy metal (HM_s) contamination of environment is of great interest due to their serious health hazard. In this work, the contamination of tree leaves with the HM_s in the most polluted industrial city, Korba, India is described. The leaves of common trees i.e. Azadirachta indica, Butea monosperma, Eucalyptus, Ficus religiosa, Mangifera indica and Tectona grandis were selected for assessment of the HM_s contamination as bioindicator. The elevated concentration of HM_s (i.e. As, Fe, Cr, Mn, Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb and Hg) in the tree leaves was observed, ranging from 2.8 - 43, 728 - 5182, 8.6 - 49, 48 - 1196, 43 - 406, 79 - 360, 1.12 - 1.65, 1.6 - 16.4 and 0.13 - 0.76 mg/kg, respectively. The concentration, enrichment and sources of the HM_s in the leaves are described. Azadirachta indica leaves, accumulating higher concentration of the HM_s, showed a higher efficiency as bioindicator for the urban pollution.

Keywords

Heavy Metal, Soil, Tree Leaf, Bioindicator, India

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	Jarup, L. (2003) Hazards of Heavy Metal Contamination. British Medical Bulletin, 68, 167-182. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/bmb/ldg032
[2]	Singh, J. and Kalamdhad, A.S. (2011) Effects of Heavy Metals on Soil, Plants, Human Health and Aquatic Life. International Journal of Research in Chemistry and Environment, 1, 15-21.
[3]	Wang, L.K., Chen, J.P., Hung, Y.T. and Shammas, N.K. (2009) Handbook on Heavy Metals in the Environment. CRC Press, Boca Raton.
[4]	Estrabou, C., Filippini, E., Soria, J.P., Schelotto, G. and Rodriguez, J.M. (2011) Air Quality Monitoring System Using Lichens as Bioindicators in Central Argentina. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 182, 375-383. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10661-011-1882-4
[5]	Kovalchuk, O., Titov, V., Hohn, B. and Kovalchuk, I. (2001) A Sensitive Transgenic Plant System to Detect Toxic Inorganic Compounds in the Environment. Nature Biotechnology, 19, 568-572. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/89327
[6]	Singh, M., Goel, P. and Singh, A.K. (2005) Biomonitoring of Lead in Atmospheric Environment of an Urban Center of the Ganga Plain, India. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 107, 101-114. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10661-005-2146-y
[7]	Stankovic, S. and Stankovic, A.R. (2013) Chapter 5: Bioindicators of Toxic Metals. In: Lichtfouse, E., Schwarzbauer, J. and Robert, D., Eds., Green Materials for Energy, Products and Depollution, Series Volume 3, Springer Netherlands, 151-228.
[8]	Temmerman, L.D., Nigel, J., Bell, B., Garrec, J.P., Klumpp, A., Krause, G.H.M. and Tonneijck, A.E.G. (2005) Biomonitoring of Air Pollutants with Plants. Environmental News Archives, 11, 5-6.
[9]	Tomasevic, M., Vukmirovic, Z., Rajsic, S., Tasic, M. and Stevanovic, B. (2008) Contribution to Biomonitoring of Some Trace Metals by Deciduous Tree Leaves in Urban Areas. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 137, 393-401. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10661-007-9775-2
[10]	Bajpai, R., Upreti, D.K. and Dwivedi, S.K. (2009) Arsenic Accumulation in Lichens of Mandav Monuments, Dhar District, Madhya Pradesh, India. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 159, 437-442. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10661-008-0641-7
[11]	Bashmakov, D.I. and Lukatkin, A.S. (2002) Accumulation of Heavy Metals by Some Higher Plants under Different Habitat Conditions. Agrochemistry, 9, 66-71.
[12]	Demirayak, A., Kutbay, H.G., Kilic, D., Bilgin, A. and Hüseyinova, R. (2011) Heavy Metal Accumulation in Some Natural and Exotic Plants in Samsun City. Ekoloji, 20, 1-11.
[13]	Liu, Y.J., Zhu, Y.G. and Ding, H. (2007) Lead and Cadmium in Leaves of Deciduous Trees in Beijing, China: Development of a Metal Accumulation Index (MAI). Environmental Pollution, 145, 387-390. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2006.05.010
[14]	Massadeh, A.M., Jaradat, Q.M., Momani, K.A. and Saleem, M.A. (2009) Distribution of Heavy Metals in Some Tree Leaves along the Main Road in an Agricultural Area. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis, 40, 1254-1267. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00103620902754622
[15]	Nayaka, N., Upreti, D.K., Gadgil, M. and Pandey, V. (2003) Distribution Pattern and Heavy Metal Accumulation in Lichens of Bangalore City with Special Reference to Lalbagh Garden. Current Science, 84, 674-680.
[16]	Piczak, K., Lesniewicz, A. and Zyrnicki, W. (2003) Metal Concentrations in Deciduous Tree Leaves from Urban Areas in Poland. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 86, 273-287. http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1024076504099
[17]	Raju, D., Kumar, S., Mehta, U.J. and Hazra, S. (2008) Differential Accumulation of Manganese in Three Mature Tree Species (Holoptelia, Cassia, Neem) Growing on a Mine Dump. Current Science, 94, 639-643.
[18]	Tomasevic, M., Rajsic, S., Dordevic, D., Tasic, M., Krstic, J. and Novakovic, V. (2004) Heavy Metals Accumulation in Tree Leaves From Urban Areas. Environmental Chemistry Letters, 2, 151-154. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10311-004-0081-8
[19]	Guttikunda, S.K. and Jawahar, P. (2014) Atmospheric Emissions and Pollution from the Coal-Fired Thermal Power Plants in India. Atmospheric Environment, 92, 449-460. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2014.04.057
[20]	Sheoran, V., Sheoran, A.S. and Tholia, N.K. (2011) Acid Mine Drainage: An Overview of Indian Mining Industry. International Journal of Earth Sciences and Engineering, 4, 1075-1086.
[21]	Mandal, A. and Sengupta, D. (2006) An Assessment of Soil Contamination Due to Heavy Metals Around a Coal-Fired Thermal Power Plant in India. Environmental Geology, 51, 409-420. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00254-006-0336-8
[22]	Sengupta, S., Chatterjee, T., Ghosh, P.B. and Saha, T. (2010) Heavy Metal Accumulation in Agricultural Soils Around a Coal Fired Thermal Power Plant (Farakka) in India. Journal of Environmental Science and Engineering, 52, 299-306.
[23]	Singh, R., Singh, D.P., Kumar, N., Bhargava, S.K. and Barman, S.C. (2010) Accumulation and Translocation of Heavy Metals in Soil and Plants from Fly Ash Contaminated Area. Journal of Environmental Biology, 31, 421-430.
[24]	Tan, K.H. (2005) Soil Sampling, Preparation, and Analysis. 2nd Edition, CRC Press, Boca Raton.
[25]	Kalra, Y.P. (1998) Handbook of Reference Methods for Plant Analysis. CRC Press, Boca Raton.
[26]	Sinex, S.A. and Helz, G.R. (1981) Regional Geochemistry of Trace Elements in Chesapeake Bay Sediment. Environmental Geology, 3, 315-323. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF02473521
[27]	Rudnick, R.L. and Gao, S. (2003) Composition of the Continental Crust. In: Holland, H.D. and Turekian, K.K., Eds., The Crust: Treatise on Geochemistry, Elsevier-Pergamon, Oxford, 3, 1-64.
[28]	Sutherland, R.A. (2000) Bed Sediment Associated Trace Metals in an Urban Stream, Oahu, Hawaii. Environmental Geology, 39, 611-627. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s002540050473
[29]	Sharma, A. and Bhattacharyya, K.G. (2005) Azadirachta indica (Neem) Leaf Powder as a Biosorbent for Removal of Cd(II) from Aqueous Medium. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 125, 102-112. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2005.05.012
[30]	Codex Alimentarius Commission (FAO/WHO) (2001) Food Additives and Contaminants. Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme, ALINORM 01/12A, 1-2892001.
[31]	Niu, Z., Zhang, X., Wang, S., Ci, Z., Kong, X. and Wang, Z. (2013) The Linear Accumulation of Atmospheric Mercury by Vegetable and Grass Leaves: Potential Biomonitors for Atmospheric Mercury Pollution. Environmental Science and Pollution Research International, 20, 6337-6343. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11356-013-1691-0