title: Elemental concentrations in deposited dust on leaves along an urbanization gradient.
abstract: Environmental health is an essential component of the quality of life in modern societies. Monitoring of environmental quality and the assessment of environmental risks are often species based on the elemental concentration of deposited dust. Our result suggested that stomata size and distribution were the most important factors influencing the accumulation of air contaminants in leaves. We found that the leaves' surfaces of Acer negundo and Celtis occidentalis were covered by a large number of trichomes, and these species have proven to be suitable biomonitors for atmospheric pollution difficult; these can be overcome using bioindicator species. Leaves of Padus serotina, Acer campestre, A. negundo, Quercus robur and C. occidentalis were used to assess the amount of deposited dust and the concentration of contaminants in deposited dust in and around the city of Debrecen, Hungary. Samples were collected from an urban, suburban and rural area along an urbanization gradient. The concentrations of Ba, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, S, Sr and Zn were determined in deposited dust using ICP-OES. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to explore the morphological structure and dust absorbing capacity of leaves. We found significant differences in dust deposition among species, and dust deposition correlated with trichomes' density. Principal component analysis (PCA) also showed a total separation of tree.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology, University of Debrecen, H-4010 Debrecen, P.O. Box 71, Hungary. Electronic address: edina.simon@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Edina
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Simon
authors.affiliation: Department of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, University of Debrecen, H-4010 Debrecen, P.O. Box 21, Hungary; Agilent Atomic Spectroscopy Partner Laboratory, University of Debrecen, Egyetem tér 1, H-4032 Debrecen, Hungary.
authors.forename: Edina
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Baranyai
authors.affiliation: Institute of Nuclear Research of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Herteleni Laboratory of Environmental Studies, 4026 Debrecen, Bem tér 18/C, Hungary.
authors.forename: Mihály
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Braun
authors.affiliation: Department of Solid State Physics, University of Debrecen, H-4010 Debrecen, P.O. Box 2, Hungary.
authors.forename: Csaba
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cserháti
authors.affiliation: Department of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, University of Debrecen, H-4010 Debrecen, P.O. Box 21, Hungary.
authors.forename: István
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Fábián
authors.affiliation: HAS-UD Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Research Group, H-4010 Debrecen, P.O. Box 71, Hungary.
authors.forename: Béla
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tóthmérész
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D002947:Cities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004391:Dust / Q000032:analysis*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D006814:Hungary; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000032:analysis; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry*; D014131:Trace Elements / Q000032:analysis*; D014507:Urbanization / Q000639:trends*
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D004391:Dust; D019216:Metals, Heavy; D014131:Trace Elements
keywords: Heavy metals; Stomata density; Stomata size; Trichomes; Urbanization