Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Aug 12;11(8):821.
doi: 10.3390/life11080821.

Monitoring Air Quality with Transplanted Bryophytes in a Neotropical Andean City

Ángel Benítez  1 , Lizbeth Armijos  2 , James Calva  3
Affiliations

Monitoring Air Quality with Transplanted Bryophytes in a Neotropical Andean City

Ángel Benítez et al. Life (Basel). .

Abstract

Air pollution is one of the main global environmental problems, where bryophytes, due to their high capacity to retain metals and other pollutants, have been widely used in active air quality monitoring studies in temperate and tropical zones. Thus, in this study, we analyzed for the first time the concentrations of eight metals (cadmium, copper, nickel, aluminum, iron, manganese, lead and zinc) in three species of transplanted mosses (Rhacocarpus purpurascens (Brid.) Paris, Sphagnum sp. and Thuidium delicatulum (Hedw.) Schimp.) from Ecuador. Significant differences were found for the three species in the concentrations of Al, Mn, Fe and Zn between urban and control areas, pointing to the Central zone as the main source of contamination with the highest concentrations of Al, Fe, Mn and Zn, related to vehicular traffic. Lead did not differ between zones for Rhacocarpus purpurascens and Sphagnum sp.; however, Thuidium delicatulum accumulated different concentrations between urban areas and the control areas. The three species of mosses provided valuable information on the contamination of Al, Fe, Mn, Pb and Zn in the urban area of the city of Loja, and therefore can be used in future air quality monitoring programs over time in tropical cities.

Keywords: Rhacocarpus purpurascens; Sphagnum; Thuidium delicatulum; active biomonitoring; metals; mosses.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Study area of city of Loja (Southern Ecuador), showing the location of the zones. South zone (orange circle), Central zone (violet circle), North zone (red circle), Control zone (green circle).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Species used for active monitoring of air quality in city of Loja (Southern Ecuador). (A) Rhacocarpus purpurascens; (B) Sphagnum sp.; (C) Thuidium delicatulum.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Transplanting of samples of the three species used for active monitoring in the city of Loja. (A) South zone, (B) Central zone, and (C) North zone.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Box plots of the concentrations (mg g−1) of metals (Al, Fe, Mn, Pb and Zn) in Rhacocarpus purpurascens, used for active monitoring of air quality in city of Loja (Southern Ecuador). Ctr = Control, S = South, C = Central, N = North.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Box plots of the concentrations (mg g−1) of metals (Al, Fe, Mn, Pb and Zn) in Sphagnum sp., used for active monitoring of air quality in city of Loja (Southern Ecuador). Ctr = Control, S = South, C = Central, N = North.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Box plot representation of the concentrations (mg g−1) of metals (Al, Fe, Mn, Pb and Zn) in Thuidium delicatulum, used for active monitoring of air quality in city of Loja (Southern Ecuador). Ctr = Control, S = South, C = Central, N = North.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Box plot representation of the concentrations (mg g−1) of metals (Al, Fe, Mn, Pb and Zn) in Thuidium delicatulum, used for active monitoring of air quality in city of Loja (Southern Ecuador). Ctr = Control, S = South, C = Central, N = North.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Kampa M., Castanas E. Human health effects of air pollution. Environ. Pollut. 2008;151:362–367. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2007.06.012. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ojo F.P., Oluseye O.C., Abiola O.G. Mosses as Biomonitors of Heavy Metal Deposition in the Atmosphere. Int. J. Environ. Sci. 2012;1:56–62.
    1. Mage D., Ozolins G., Peterson P., Webster A., Orthofer R., Vandeweerd V., Gwynne M. Urban air pollution in megacities of the world. Atmos. Environ. 1996;30:681–686. doi: 10.1016/1352-2310(95)00219-7. - DOI
    1. Gee I.L., Sollars C.J. Ambient air levels of volatile organic compounds in Latin American and Asian cities. Chemosphere. 1998;36:2497–2506. doi: 10.1016/S0045-6535(97)10217-X. - DOI
    1. Zhang K., Batterman S. Air pollution and health risks due to vehicle traffic. Sci. Total Environ. 2013;450:307–316. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.01.074. - DOI - PMC - PubMed