Leaves of orange jasmine (Murraya paniculata) as indicators of airborne heavy metal in Bangkok, Thailand.
Orange jasmine (Murraya paniculata) leaves were collected from three different sites in the area of Bangkok and in a remote area as a control site. The leaf samples were digested and the concentrations of Cu, Fe, Pb, Mn, Ni, Cr, and Zn were then quantified by using inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). All three Bangkok sites were polluted with heavy metals compared with the background site. Fe was found as the highest mean concentration of the metals studied, while Pb was the lowest. There was a high correlation coefficient between metals Cu-Mn, Cu-Zn, Cu-Pb, and Mn-Zn. However, Fe was not correlated with other metals. There was no significant difference in Pb between sites. The significant difference in other metals found in the study could be attributed to different anthropogenic activities between sites. The principal-component analysis (PCA) identified two factors according to the sources of metals making up the anthropogenic (traffic) and natural (soil) sources. Traffic emission was found to be the main source of metal pollution in the atmosphere of Bangkok.
Titseesang
Teerawet
T
International Postgraduate Program in Environmental Management, National Center of Excellence for Environmental and Hazardous Waste Management, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.
Wood
Timothy
T
Panich
Noppaporn
N
D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007501:Iron / Q000032:analysis; D007854:Lead / Q000032:analysis*; D008670:Metals / Q000032:analysis*; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000032:analysis; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000378:metabolism; D012987:Soil / Q000032:analysis; D013054:Spectrophotometry, Atomic; D013785:Thailand; D014131:Trace Elements / Q000032:analysis
D000393:Air Pollutants; D008670:Metals; D010936:Plant Extracts; D012987:Soil; D014131:Trace Elements; D007854:Lead; D007501:Iron