Plants as Monitoring Samplers of Airborne PAH

Summary

In this study kale and elm leaves have been used as samplers of airborne PAH. Kale was cultivated at three different sites in an urban area, and at two sites with increasing distance from much frequented roads. Control plants were grown at a rural site. Elm leaves were collected at two of the urban sites and at the rural site. Depending on duration of exposure, the PAH content was increased 10–100 times in plants grown in the urban area, compared to the control plants. The PAH profiles from the plants at the different sites with different exposure times were quite equal between themselves. This may indicate that reactive PAH-components do not further react after deposition to the plants. Furthermore, the PAH-profiles were almost identical with an air particle sample of PAH, taken in the urban area. The PAH-content in the elm leaves increased also compared to the reference site, and the PAH profiles were constantly corresponding to the profiles of kale. The results also showed that the PAH-content rapidly decreased with increased distance from the busy roads.