Relationship between trace elemental composition in Fraxinus pennsylvanica bark and the incidence of some respiratory diseases in Cordoba, Argentina

Abstract

In order to evaluate the use of Fraxinus pennsylvanica as a biomonitor of trace elements and to investigate their relationship with the incidence of some respiratory diseases in children, bark samples of F. pennsylvanica were collected at ten sampling sites near healthcare centres in Córdoba city, Argentina, and analysed by Total Reflection X-ray Fluorescence with synchrotron radiation. Factor analysis was used to identify element emission sources. The first factor was associated with industrial activities, the second might represent soil sources and the third factor was related to vehicular traffic emissions. Pearson's correlation analysis between these factors and the incidence of respiratory diseases showed that factor 1 correlated with allergic rush, factor 2 with allergic rhinitis and factor 3 with respiratory infections. The results suggest that bark samples of F. pennsylvanica can be use as an efficient biomonitor to assess the human exposure to trace elements.

Exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in urban environments: Health risk assessment by age groups

“…Several studies have been conducted in Argentina to determine the concentration of airborne particles in its most populated cities, including Buenos Aires and Cordoba (Carreras et al, 2008(Carreras et al, , 2013L opez et al, 2011;Rehwagen et al, 2005). However, little attention has been paid to the levels of PAHs associated to particles distributed in the urban atmosphere, despite the fact that their concentration in the atmosphere is a serious environmental problem, particularly in Cordoba city (Amarillo and Carreras, 2012;Carreras et al, 2013;Wannaz et al, 2010). Thus, in the present study it was conducted a detailed investigation concerning the concentration of PAHs (most of them included in the U.S. EPA Priority List, ASTDR, 2005) associated to atmospheric particulate matter collected during different seasons, and the health risk related with people living in urban areas of Cordoba city.…”