Air quality assessment using the Pollen Abortion assay in Tradescantia pallida in a Mid-sized City in Southern Brazil

Abstract

Urbanization is an important source of air pollutants that can compromise human health. In developing countries, such as Brazil, most cities do not have air quality monitoring stations. Assessing air quality through plant species has gained recognized prominence, as they are sessile organisms and sensitive to environmental changes. Pollen abortion assay in Tradescantia pallida is a fast and low-cost bioassay that can be implemented in passive biomonitoring scenarios. The present study aimed to use the pollen abortion assay in T. pallida to assess air quality in the municipality of Rio Grande, RS, Brazil and the possible relationship with vehicular flow. A relation was found between the highest rate of pollen abortion and the sites where there was greater vehicular flow and ozone levels, while at the control point, the lowest rate of pollen abortion among the others was found, corroborating the hypothesis that air pollution together with high levels of ozone from vehicles, impair plant pollination.

Avaliação da genotoxicidade de poluentes atmosféricos relacionados ao trânsito veicular por meio de biomonitoramento com Tradescantia pallida var. purpurea

“…O uso do bioensaio de micronúcleo Tradescantia (Trad-MCN) não só contribui para uma compreensão mais profunda dos efeitos da poluição do ar nas plantas, mas também destaca sua importância em estudos epidemiológicos que buscam entender a relação entre a poluição do ar e a saúde humana [15]. Assim, testes utilizando plantas como bioindicadores torna-se uma ferramenta valiosa na avaliação da genotoxicidade ambiental e podem ajudar a monitorar a qualidade do ar e avaliar possíveis riscos genotóxicos para humanos [16].…”

Evaluation the Urban Atmospheric Conditions Using Micronuclei Assay and Stomatal Index in Tradescantia pallida

“…Among the plant species with wide application in atmospheric biomonitoring, Tradescantia pallida var purple (Rose) DR Hunt stands out [32,33]. Known popularly as the purple heart, purple-throated pearl, or "trapoerabão", it is an exotic plant in Brazil [34] that is herbaceous and succulent, easily colonizes and adapts to diverse environments, and is widely used as a tropical ornamental plant [34][35][36].…”