Assessment of atmospheric trace element concentrations by lichen-bag near an oil/gas pre-treatment plant in the Agri Valley (southern Italy)

Abstract

Abstract. The atmospheric concentrations of 17 trace elements (Al, Ca, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Li, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, P, Pb, S, Ti and Zn) were measured by means of the "lichenbag" technique in the Agri Valley (southern Italy). The lichen samples were collected from an unpolluted site located in Rifreddo forest (southern Italy), about 30 km away from the study area along the north direction. The bags were exposed to ambient air for 6 and 12 months. The exposedto-control (EC) ratio values highlighted that the used lichen species were suitable for biomonitoring investigations. The results showed that the concentrations of almost all the examined trace elements increased with respect to the control after 6-12-month exposures. Furthermore, Ca, Al, Fe, K, Mg and S were the most abundant trace elements both in the 6-month and 12-month-exposed samples. Moreover, principal component analysis (PCA) results highlighted that the major sources of the measured atmospheric trace elements were related both to anthropogenic contributions due to traffic, combustion processes agricultural practices, construction and quarrying activities, and to natural contributions mainly represented by the re-suspension of local soil and road dusts. In addition, the contribution both of secondary atmospheric reactions involving Centro Olio Val d'Agri (COVA) plant emissions and the African dust long-range transport were also identified.

Oxidative stress caused by lead in the lichen Xanthoria parietina

“…Our results show that the accumulation of lead increases with increasing exposure time, the same result was obtained by Douibi et al (2015), and Sujetovienė and Česynaitė (2021). Lichens have the ability to extract metals from their environment (Subhashini & Suganthi, 2014;Caggiano et al, 2015;Darnajoux et al, 2015). According to results obtained by Carreras and Pignata (2007), Hg, Cu, Cd, Ag, Pb, Zn are considered the most toxic heavy metals.…”

“…Lichens have the ability to absorb significant amounts of trace elements from the atmosphere (Caggiano, Trippetta, & Sabia, 2015;Darnajoux, Lutzoni, Miadlikowska, & Bellenger, 2015). Lichens are also used as biomonitors (Kularatne & Freitas, 2013;Ite, Udousoro, & Ibok, 2014;Conti & Tudino, 2016;Demková, Bobul'ská, Árvay, Jezný, & Ducsay, 2017;Abas, 2021;Tarawneh, Salamon, Altarawneh, & Mitra, 2021) and bioaccumulators of heavy metals (Węgrzyn, Wietrzyk, Lisowska, Klimek, & Nicia, 2016;Winkler et al, 2019;Rola, 2020;Vannini et al, 2021).…”