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Biomonitoring levels of airborne metals around Urmia Lake using deciduous trees and evaluation of their tolerance for greenbelt development

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Abstract

In the northwest of Iran, the dust of salty and toxic metals possibly caused due to drying Urmia Lake is threatening the health of surrounding communities. This study aimed to employ leaves of local deciduous trees for biomonitoring of toxic elements and to evaluate air pollution tolerance of the trees for greenbelt application. Sampling from leaves of four dominant tree species including Vitis vinifera, Juglans regia, Ulmus umbraculifera, and Popolus alba was carried out from gardens in two radial distances (5 and 10 km) around the Urmia Lake accounting for 16 sites. The concentration of metals in the leaves were extracted according to method USEPA method 3050B and measured by ICP AES technique. According to the levels of air pollution tolerance index (APTI), Popolus alba showed to be more sensitive to air pollution and can be applied for biomonitoring. The ranks of heavy metals and sodium concentrations in the leaves gained in the order of Na > Zn > Cu > Ni > Pb > As > Cd. The mean enrichment factor for the elements was calculated from 1 to 3, suggesting minor enrichment for them. As, Pb, and Na with similar spatial distribution were dominantly observed in northwest and center-east of the Urmia Lake. Potential ecological risk (PER) index showed a moderate risk in 6% of sampling zones, where Cd and As were identified as responsible pollutants. Principle component and correlation analysis between the elements depicted human sources such as industrial activity and road traffic for Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn, whereas As and Na were most likely originated from the aerosols of Urmia Lake. Our findings showed that Popolus alba can be applied as a local biomonitor and Vitis vinifera with moderate tolerance can be used as a good air pollutant sink in greenbelt development around the drying Urmia Lake in the northwest of Iran.

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Funding

This study was financially supported by grant number 951108 of the Biotechnology Development Council of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The authors would like to thank the School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, and all those who helped us with this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Science and Technology Research Center, Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran

    Amir Mohammadi & Mehdi Mokhtari

  2. Department of Environment, Faculty of Natural Resources and Desert Studies, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran

    Asghar Mosleh Arani

  3. Health and Environment Research Center, Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran

    Hassan Taghipour

  4. Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

    Yaghoub Hajizadeh

  5. Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Research Center of Prevention and Epidemiology of Non-Communicable Disease, Faculty of Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran

    Hossein Fallahzadeh

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  1. Amir Mohammadi
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  2. Mehdi Mokhtari
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  4. Hassan Taghipour
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Correspondence to Yaghoub Hajizadeh.

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Mohammadi, A., Mokhtari, M., Arani, A.M. et al. Biomonitoring levels of airborne metals around Urmia Lake using deciduous trees and evaluation of their tolerance for greenbelt development. Environ Sci Pollut Res 25, 21138–21148 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-1899-0

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