Heavy metals accumulation in Nerium oleander leaves across urban areas in Setif region, Algeria

Abstract

Abstract. Koucim MA, Belguidoum A, Lograda T, Ramdani M. 2021. Heavy metals accumulation in Nerium oleander leaves across urban areas in Setif region, Algeria. Biodiversitas 22: 3083-3091. Pollution by Metallic trace elements (MTE) has become one of the most serious environmental problems resulting from human activity. Plants, which are the base of the food chain, can take up MTE from the soil solution; hyper-accumulators can store high levels of heavy metals in their aerial parts at high concentrations. These plants can be used in phytoremediation. This study aimed to investigate the accumulation of MTE in the leaves of Nerium oleander to monitor environmental pollution of several areas in the province of Setif, Algeria. The samples of N. oleander leaves were collected from 20 urban areas in Setif Province. The concentrations of seven metallic trace elements (Cd, Mn, Pb, Sb, Cu, Bi and Fe) were determined using Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (AASF). The results show that the concentrations of heavy metals in the leaves of N. oleander, in general, were very high, far exceeding the certified standard ranges. The order of MTE in the leaves was found as follows: Mn> Sb> Bi> Pb> Fe> Cu> Cd. Our findings indicate that although N. oleander showed a significant capacity to accumulate MTE, the urban areas of Setif province were highly polluted by heavy metals. The presence of metal ions in the aerial parts of the plant indicates that N. oleander is a hyper-accumulator of metals with tolerance to Mn, Sb, and Pb, and can be used as a bio-monitor. This opens up prospects for its application for soil phytoremediation.

Biomonitoring of air pollution by lichen diversity in the urban area of Setif, Algeria

“…The stations in these municipalities were affected by commercial areas, industrial facilities, quarries, mining, as well as roads with intense road traffic density, causing the epiphytic vegetation to regress (Kar et al 2014;Khastini et al 2019;Kitoko et al 2020;Mcmullin et al 2017;Sett and Kundu 2016). Studies in the Setif region on the bioaccumulation of metallic trace elements showed a close relationship between high levels of heavy metal pollution and the volume of road traffic (Belguidoum et al 2020;Koucim et al 2021).…”

“…There are several methods to monitor air quality, including multivariate physico-chemical analysis, based on air pollution monitoring system and air quality control by network facilities, and biological techniques (Conti and Cecchetti 2001;Khedo et al 2010;Shaban et al 2016). Relatively few studies have relied on the concurrent use of biomonitoring (Belguidoum et al 2021;Kaur and Nagpal 2017). Living organisms used in air quality monitoring offer an important tool for estimating the impact of air pollution, providing data for environmental management (Pirintsos and Loppi 2008).…”

“…They are easy and inexpensive to use and provide results on which human health deductions can be based (Cislaghi and Nimis 1997). Considering the above-mentioned advantages, many countries use bioindication indices based on the diversity and spatial distribution of lichens to estimate air pollution levels (Agnan et al 2017;Biazrov 2013;Belguidoum et al 2021;Dron et al 2016;Jayalal et al 2016;Kirschbaum et al 2012;Klymenko 2015;Kricke and Loppi 2002).…”

Apple trees as a possible monitor and phytoremediator of urban and industrial areas in Chelyabinsk, Russian Federation

“…This method is useful since the cost is low and it can be used efficiently on a large scale, offering a tool to monitor heavy metal contamination (Antonucci et al 2016;Belguidoum et al 2020. Several higher plants have been used to assess metal contamination in urban and industrial area because of their accumulation properties (Vannucchi et al 2020;Koucim et al 2021, Giniatullin et al 2016. This paper investigates the possibility to use apple trees to monitor and ameliorate the metal(loid) pollution of Chelyabinsk urban areas.…”