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Atmosphere
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Biomonitoring of Atmospheric Pollution
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Biomonitoring of Atmospheric Pollution

A special issue of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433). This special issue belongs to the section "Air Quality".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2019) | Viewed by 21749

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Valeria Spagnuolo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biology, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, 80126 Napoli, Italy
Interests: phytoremediation; plant biomonitoring; plant response to abiotic stress; plant biodiversity along environmental gradients
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Fiore Capozzi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biology, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, 80126 Napoli, Italy
Interests: plants as biomonitors of air quality; phytoremediation; factors influencing plant growth in a space environment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleauges,

Achieving good air quality is a necessity for human health and wellbeing. In spite of the introduction of cleaner technologies in industry, energy production and transport, air pollution remains a major health risk. Recently WHO (the World Health Organization) reported that air pollution in 2012 caused the deaths of about seven million people worldwide (WHO, 2014). This confirms air pollution as one of the most important environmental health risk in the world and indicates its reduction as an urgent task to save millions of lives. Before taking actions to improve air quality, an effort should be done to understand the mechanisms of pollutant dispersion and hence realize the best solutions for their monitoring. The automatic devices used nowadays for air monitoring are accurate but too limited in number (due to their excessive costs) to describe the spatial-temporal trends of pollutants. In addition, we lack information on the air quality from many places like private homes and work places. Therefore, there is an urgent need to implement and employ new low-cost and robust tools for monitoring air quality. Biomonitoring is an adequate alternative technique to acquire data about pollution, but to date, there are still some open issues needing exploration by the scientific community involved in this field. All this research, based on new biomontoring techniques or based on the improvement of already existing methodologies, are welcome in this Special Issue.

Prof. Valeria Spagnuolo
Dr. Fiore Capozzi
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Atmosphere is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • air pollution
  • air biomonitoring
  • inorganic pollutants
  • organic pollutants

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Editorial

Jump to: Research

2 pages, 152 KiB  
Editorial
Special Issue Editorial: Biomonitoring of Atmospheric Pollution
by Valeria Spagnuolo and Fiore Capozzi
Atmosphere 2020, 11(12), 1329; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos11121329 - 8 Dec 2020
Viewed by 1462
Abstract
Despite the introduction of cleaning technologies in industry, energy production and transport, air pollution remains a major health risk; nonetheless, achieving a good air quality is a necessity for human health and ecosystems [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomonitoring of Atmospheric Pollution)

Research

Jump to: Editorial

15 pages, 1557 KiB  
Article
Congruence Evaluation of Mercury Pollution Patterns Around a Waste Incinerator over a 16-Year-Long Period Using Different Biomonitors
by Lorenzo Fortuna, Fabio Candotto Carniel, Fiore Capozzi and Mauro Tretiach
Atmosphere 2019, 10(4), 183; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos10040183 - 5 Apr 2019
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3370
Abstract
To date, there has been an ever-increasing interest in complementary air monitoring techniques, which may fill the deficiencies of air quality networks. The present work reports the results concerning five biomonitoring surveys (BSs) performed in the proximity of a waste incinerator (WI) over [...] Read more.
To date, there has been an ever-increasing interest in complementary air monitoring techniques, which may fill the deficiencies of air quality networks. The present work reports the results concerning five biomonitoring surveys (BSs) performed in the proximity of a waste incinerator (WI) over a 16-year period. Hg emission related to the WI activity was monitored by means of both active and passive BSs based on three photosynthetically-active biomonitors (i.e., two epiphytic lichens: Pseudevernia furfuracea and Xanthoria parietina; one vascular plant: Robinia pseudoacacia) collected or exposed before and/or after the WI installation, and after a four-month period of inactivity. Hg concentration values observed in biomonitor samples varied according to the implemented species and to the status of WI plant (active vs. inactive). Our data demonstrate that, in the same pollution scenario, P. furfuracea accumulates three times more Hg than both X. parietina and R. pseudoacacia. The results are discussed in the context of the actual European Union directives concerning air pollution monitoring and assessment, revealing that both active and passive BSs are efficient tools to provide a reliable estimation of the spatial changes of Hg concentrations in the environment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomonitoring of Atmospheric Pollution)
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19 pages, 2956 KiB  
Article
New Interpretative Scales for Lichen Bioaccumulation Data: The Italian Proposal
by Elva Cecconi, Lorenzo Fortuna, Renato Benesperi, Elisabetta Bianchi, Giorgio Brunialti, Tania Contardo, Luca Di Nuzzo, Luisa Frati, Fabrizio Monaci, Silvana Munzi, Juri Nascimbene, Luca Paoli, Sonia Ravera, Andrea Vannini, Paolo Giordani, Stefano Loppi and Mauro Tretiach
Atmosphere 2019, 10(3), 136; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos10030136 - 13 Mar 2019
Cited by 39 | Viewed by 5896
Abstract
The interpretation of lichen bioaccumulation data is of paramount importance in environmental forensics and decision-making processes. By implementing basic ideas underlying previous interpretative scales, new dimensionless, species-independent “bioaccumulation scales” for native and transplanted lichens are proposed. Methodologically consistent element concentration datasets were populated [...] Read more.
The interpretation of lichen bioaccumulation data is of paramount importance in environmental forensics and decision-making processes. By implementing basic ideas underlying previous interpretative scales, new dimensionless, species-independent “bioaccumulation scales” for native and transplanted lichens are proposed. Methodologically consistent element concentration datasets were populated with data from biomonitoring studies relying on native and transplanted lichens. The scale for native lichens was built up by analyzing the distribution of ratios between element concentration data and species-specific background concentration references (B ratios), herein provided for Flavoparmelia caperata and Xanthoria parietina (foliose lichens). The scale for transplants was built up by analyzing the distribution of ratios between element concentration in exposed and unexposed samples (EU ratio) of Evernia prunastri and Pseudevernia furfuracea (fruticose lichens). Both scales consist of five percentile-based classes; namely, “Absence of”, “Low”, “Moderate”, “High”, and “Severe” bioaccumulation. A comparative analysis of extant interpretative tools showed that previous ones for native lichens suffered from the obsolescence of source data, whereas the previous expert-assessed scale for transplants failed in describing noticeable element concentration variations. The new scales, based on the concept that pollution can be quantified by dimensionless ratios between experimental and benchmark values, overcome most critical points affecting the previous scales. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomonitoring of Atmospheric Pollution)
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Graphical abstract

8 pages, 511 KiB  
Article
Levels of Antioxidant Compound Glutathione in Moss from Industrial Areas
by Zulema Varela, Sofía Debén, Dinesh K. Saxena, Jesús R. Aboal and J. Ángel Fernández
Atmosphere 2018, 9(7), 284; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos9070284 - 19 Jul 2018
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3732
Abstract
Plants possess a wide range of cellular mechanisms that help them tolerate potentially toxic substances. Several studies that were carried out under laboratory conditions have demonstrated that the antioxidant compound glutathione plays a role in enabling mosses to tolerate high levels of heavy [...] Read more.
Plants possess a wide range of cellular mechanisms that help them tolerate potentially toxic substances. Several studies that were carried out under laboratory conditions have demonstrated that the antioxidant compound glutathione plays a role in enabling mosses to tolerate high levels of heavy metals without toxic effects. However, until now, the antioxidant levels have not been studied in mosses under field conditions. In this study, we aimed to clarify the antioxidant concentrations of glutathione in the terrestrial moss Pseudoscleropodium purum growing in industrial environments characterised by high atmospheric levels of Cd, Ni, and Pb, and to evaluate the potential use of the compound as a biomarker. The results indicated the existence of a glutathione threshold response, which was significantly correlated with the metal toxicity and which may be influenced by metal bioavailability. Although future studies are needed to strengthen the findings, the present study suggests that total concentration of glutathione in P. purum could therefore be used as a biomarker in air pollution biomonitoring studies, provided that metal bioavailability is taken into account. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomonitoring of Atmospheric Pollution)
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19 pages, 2291 KiB  
Article
Magnetic Biomonitoring as a Tool for Assessment of Air Pollution Patterns in a Tropical Valley Using Tillandsia sp.
by Daniela Mejía-Echeverry, Marcos A. E. Chaparro, José F. Duque-Trujillo, Mauro A. E. Chaparro and Ana G. Castañeda Miranda
Atmosphere 2018, 9(7), 283; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos9070283 - 19 Jul 2018
Cited by 28 | Viewed by 6541
Abstract
Recently, air pollution alerts were issued in the Metropolitan Area of Aburrá Valley (AVMA) due to the highest recorded levels of particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) ever measured. We propose a novel methodology based on magnetic parameters and an epiphytic [...] Read more.
Recently, air pollution alerts were issued in the Metropolitan Area of Aburrá Valley (AVMA) due to the highest recorded levels of particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) ever measured. We propose a novel methodology based on magnetic parameters and an epiphytic biomonitor of air pollution in order to improve the air pollution monitoring network at low cost. This methodology relies on environmental magnetism along with chemical methods on 185 Tillandsia recurvata specimens collected along the valley (290 km2). The highest magnetic particle concentrations were found at the bottom of the valley, where most human activities are concentrated. Mass-specific magnetic susceptibility (χ) reaches mean (and s.d.) values of 93.5 (81.0) and 100.8 (64.9) × 10−8 m3 kg−1 in areas with high vehicular traffic and industrial activity, while lower χ values of 27.3 (21.0) × 10−8 m3 kg−1 were found at residential areas. Most magnetite particles are breathable in size (0.2–5 μm), and can host potentially toxic elements. The calculated pollution load index (PLI, based on potentially toxic elements) shows significant correlations with the concentration-dependent magnetic parameters (R = 0.88–0.93; p < 0.01), allowing us to validate the magnetic biomonitoring methodology in high-precipitation tropical cities and identify the most polluted areas in the AVMA. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomonitoring of Atmospheric Pollution)
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