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Bioaccumulation with lichens: the Italian experience
Abstract
Biological monitoring by means of lichens as accumulators of trace elements is a very suitable tool to assess and monitor air pollution and it has been adopted in several surveys in Italy in the last 30 years. In this paper, we try to make a critical analysis of this topic in order to understand the state of research and applications in this field. For this purpose, a database of the main field studies carried out in the last 30 years in Italy was prepared. The paper reports a survey of the characteristics of these studies. The aim is to take stock of the situation at present and to give a boost to the scientific community’s efforts to standardize the method at national and international level.
... Lichens are obligate symbiotic organisms between fungi and algae and/or cyanobacteria (Nash 2008a). They are well known as effective bioindicators of air quality and great bioaccumulators of atmospheric pollutants (Abas 2021;Bargagli and Mikhailova 2002;Brunialti and Frati 2014). They have no root system and receive water and minerals from the air only. ...
... Lichens are among the most sensitive organisms to air pollution; therefore, alterations in their physiology, anatomy, and morphology can be used as early warning signs of the effects of air pollution Sujetovienė et al. 2020). In a study area with no lichens or insufficient, this can be overcome by the transplantation technique (Brunialti and Frati 2014). This method has several advantages: i) it allows the assessment of spatial and temporal air pollution, ii) the exposure time is known and can be used to calculate enrichment or accumulation factors, and iii) it allows air monitoring at high resolution such that the lichens can be placed in areas of interest as much as needed. ...
Poor air quality in school environments causes adverse health effects in children and decreases their academic performance. The main objective of this study was to use lichens as a biomonitoring tool for assessing outdoor air quality at schools in the industrial area of Laem Chabang municipality in Thailand. Thalli of the lichen Parmotrema tinctorum were transplanted from an unpolluted area to nine schools in the industrial area and to a control site. The lichens were exposed for four periods in the dry, hot, early rainy, and late rainy seasons, for 90 days each. The concentrations of 14 elements, including As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sb, Ti, V, and Zn, were determined using inductively coupled plasma‒mass spectrometry (ICP‒MS), and 8 physiological parameters were measured. The concentrations of all 14 investigated elements were clearly higher at the schools than at the control site. The contamination factors (CFs) suggested that 9 out of the 14 elements, including As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mo, Pb, Sb, and Ti, heavily contaminated the school environments, especially Pb, the concentration of which was 3 to 11 times higher than at the control site. The most polluted time was the hot season as evidenced by the investigated elements, and the least polluted time was the late rainy season. The pollution load indices (PLIs) demonstrated that schools in the inner and middle zones clearly had higher pollution loads than the schools in the outer zone during the rainy seasons, while the hot and dry seasons showed similar pollution levels in all zones. The vitality indices (VIs) showed that the lower lichen vitalities at most schools were observed during the dry season and at the schools in the inner and middle zones. Accordingly, the air performance indices (APIs) revealed that poorer air quality at most schools was found during the dry season and at the schools in the inner and middle zones. This study clearly showed that the transplanted lichen P. tinctorum was an effective bioindicator of air quality in school environments. The results illustrated that all studied schools were contaminated by air pollutants; therefore, improving air quality at the schools is crucial and should be an urgent issue for maintaining good health and may benefit children's academic achievements and careers in the long run.
... When it comes to epiphytic species, thallus acts as a vehicle for transmitting particles by direct deposition from the air. Therefore, lichen serves as a valid instrument and proxy to assess air quality and potential contamination sources of elements [29][30][31]. Their prolonged exposure time to environmental factors, lack of cuticles or stomata and the absence of mechanisms of excretion make lichens behave like bioaccumulators of aerosol [29,32]. Lichens can accumulate even minor elements to measurable concentrations [33]. ...
Investigation of various species of lichen as biomonitors of air pollutants deposition and evaluation of element pollution were aimed. Maximum accumulation was 43.9±2.1 mg/kg in X. somloensis. Strontium in lichen species was quite high. Percentages of strontium for L.pulmonaria, C.furcata, U.longissima, X.somloensis, and F.caperata were between 58% and 78% indicating the efficient accumulation of strontium. Lichens were also accumulated strategically important elements. Maximum contamination factors in lichens were for strontium and tantalum. Maximum contamination factors of hafnium, niobium, lithium, gallium, and bismuth were for L. pulmonaria while maximum contamination factors of strontium, yttrium, scandium, and cerium were for X.somloensis. Maximum contamination factor of tantalum was for F.caperata. Enrichment factors for L.pulmonaria, C.furcata, and F.caperata were higher than 10, only for bismuth while lower than 10 for U.longissima. Enrichment factors for X.somloensis were higher than 10. Pollution load indexes for L.pulmonaria and U.longissima were higher than 1. Presence of strategically important elements in lichens showed that lichen species can be used as biomonitors of air pollutants.
... The use of lichens (a mycobiont and a photobiont living in symbiosis) in the study of atmospheric pollution by PTEs is well-established (Carreras and Pignata 2002;Çiçek et al. 2007;Brunialti and Frati 2014;Conti and Tudino 2016;Dalvand et al. 2016;Contardo et al. 2018;De La Cruz et al. 2018), Lichen biomonitoring can be utilized effectively in environmental forensics as well (Purvis et al. 2013;Contardo et al. 2018;Loppi et al. 2019). Since lichens rely heavily on the atmosphere for nutrition and water and lack the waxy cuticle and stomata found in vascular plant leaves, airborne pollutants can easily be absorbed across the entire thallus surface (Nash and Gries 1991;Conti and Tudino 2016). ...
The lichen Usnea articulata collected from an unpolluted area was exposed for 6 months at 26 sites for the sample chosenusing a stratified random design, and the content of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) including As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sn, V, and Zn, was assessed using ICP-MS. The health risk for both adults and children was then calculated using the PTEs concentrations. The results showed that despite the hostile urban conditions, transplanted lichens depicted clear deposition patterns of airborne PTEs, mostly associated with industrial sites, where As and other elements showed remarkably high values. The cumulative hazard index was below the risk threshold, both for adults and children. For the entire population (particularly children) residing in areas surrounding industrial sites, As and Cr appeared to be potentially carcinogenic elements.
Nutrition education is an integral part of a series of disease prevention and control, including covid-
19. This mini-review aims to investigate the role of nutritional status on the severity of covid-19
symptoms. Balanced nutritional intake is the essential capital to maintain metabolic balance, maintain
nutritional status, and increase endurance. This is very useful to prevent or at least suppress the symp-
toms of covid-19. Excessive and unhealthy food intake (high in sugar and high in fat) can cause
metabolic disorders, increase body weight resulting in obesity, and increase the risk of degenerative
diseases such as diabetes mellitus and hypertension. This will increase inflammation in the body,
which can reduce immunity. Several studies have suggested that nutritional status is related to the
severity of Covid-19 symptoms. Most of the patients with confirmed Covid-19 with poor nutritional
status had more severe respiratory complaints. So, nutrition education is needed to prevent the covid-
19 infections.
The atmosphere of mountain areas may be contaminated by pollutants originating mainly from road traffic, as well as tourist and community activities within such areas. This study mainly aimed to assess the concentrations of airborne potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in two mountain areas in Thailand using lichen biomonitoring. Thalli of the lichen Parmotrema tinctorum from the relatively unpolluted area in Khao Yai National Park (KYNP) were prepared and exposed at nine sites in the KYNP and nine sites in Doi Inthanon National Park (DINP) during the rainy and dry seasons. The lichen transplants were collected and analyzed for 15 PTEs, including Al, As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sb, Ti, V, and Zn, using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. The result clearly showed that the atmosphere of many monitoring sites in both mountains were contaminated by the investigated PTEs. The contamination factors (CFs) revealed that several PTEs heavily contaminated the atmosphere at many monitoring sites. The pollution load indices (PLIs) clearly illustrated that the atmosphere of all sites had higher pollution loads in the dry season than in the rainy season, which was likely due to the higher numbers of motor vehicles and visitors. The highest pollution loads were observed at sites that had higher traffic density and human activities, including the park entrance site in the KYNP and the community site in the DINP. The lowest air pollution loads were discovered at the summit sites in both mountains. This study indicates that the atmosphere of mountain areas can be contaminated by some PTEs that are mainly produced by road traffic and local communities. It also confirms the ability of the transplanted lichen P. tinctorum to be an effective biomonitoring tool for airborne PTEs in natural environments.
Lichens are widely used as bioindicators of air quality because of their ability to absorb chemical pollutants. We used the Lichen Diversity Value (LDV) index to assess the effects of the urban reconstruction activities in the city of L’Aquila ten years after the 2009 earthquake on air quality. Sampling was conducted from the city centre (still mostly under reconstruction and closed to traffic) to suburban areas (where reconstruction is minimal). We tested if the LDV index varied with distance from the city centre because of the presence of air pollutants produced by reconstruction works. We also used Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) to detect the main pollutants accumulated in the sampled lichens. The LDV increased from the city centre towards suburban areas. EDS revealed high concentrations of pollutants related to demolition and reconstruction activities, such as aluminium and silicon (used in the manufacture of concrete), in the more central areas. These results suggest that the LDV index can be a useful tool to monitor air quality, even on a small scale, and in urban environments subject to building demolition and reconstruction. Moreover, EDS could represent a good preliminary analytical technique to identify the air pollutants associated with all of these activities.
Natural processes and anthropogenic activities have contaminated the environmental components and imposed hazardous conditions for the environment and human health. Different groups of living organisms, including fungi, were found sensitive to environmental pollutants and have been employed as biological indicators over pollution’s physical and chemical indicators. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of fungal species and their symbiotic associations (such as lichens and mycorrhiza) in response to different pollutants were established as bioindicators for diagnosis, control and management of environmental pollution and protection of biological integrity in ecosystems. Bioindicators are cost-effective and reliable means to evaluate environmental changes. Fungal species have been used as indicators of nutrient pollution or eutrophication in different aquatic bodies. Fungal communities can bioaccumulate or adsorb different pollutants such as heavy metals, radionuclides, pesticides, hydrocarbons and other toxic chemicals of anthropogenic origin in their biomass, which reflect the real-time concentration of the pollutants in a particular ecosystem. The diversity and composition of the fungal community show changes in response to environmental pollution, which entitles them an excellent biological indicator. Lichens have been extensively used for biomonitoring of air pollution in different geographic locations. In addition, fungal communities can biodegrade or bio-transform the toxic organic and inorganic pollutants into less harmful form, which suggests their role in bioremediation of environmental pollutants. The present chapter highlights the potential of different fungal genera as natural spectacles to monitor the environmental pollution in aerial, aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.
Lichen or commonly known as symbiotic organism lies between fungi and algae. It is a non vascular simple organism and it is very sensitive to environmental conditions. The research method used was an exploration. It was then continued with the analysis of the pollutant uptake test by a spectrophotometer. To determine the sampling point, the purposive sampling technique was used. The study was divided into 3 main areas based on the environmental differences, namely urban, suburban and forest. There were about 30 trees sticked by corticolous lichens. The pollutant parameters measured were SO2 (sulfur dioxide) and NO2 (nitrogen dioxide). The air quality data were the secondary data such as NO2 and SO2 ambient air that issued by the Environmental Services (DLH) of Surakarta Government Central Java Indonesia. The range of NO2 ambient content in the research locations, namely in the city of Surakarta and the suburban of Jaten Karanganyar was still below the Ambient Air Quality Standards (ABML) issued by the Government, which ranged from 4.29 - 49.72 μg / Nm3.3. The Quality Standard values for ambient NO2 were 316 and μg / Nm3. At the same time, the ambient SO2 values ranged from 0.153 to 36.74 μg / Nm3, still below the threshold of Ambient Air Quality Standards for SO2 issued by the Government on 632 μg / Nm3. The values for SO2 content in the lichen thalli ranged from 0.17 to 4.05 and it was from 0.773 to 4.03 for the NO2 content. The SO2 and NO2 content values in the lichen thalus found in lichens that grow in urban areas are the highest than in urban and forest suburbs. There is a content of pollutant compounds that are identical between thalus lichen and pollutants in the atmosphere (ambient air) so that lichen thalus is able to absorb pollutant compounds in the atmosphere which can be characterized by the morphological characters of thalli that live in urban, suburban and forests. We will be able to publish your paper in electronic form on our web page http://www.scientific.net if the paper format and the margins are correct. Your manuscript will be reduced by approximately 20% by the publisher. Please keep this in mind when designing your figures and tables, etc.
Background and Objective: Air quality and distribution of trace elements in the Tehran metropolis were evaluated using transplants of the epiphytic lichen Ramalina sinensis.
Materials and Methods: Thalli of R. sinensis were collected from a non-contaminated area and transplanted in the six urban sites of Tehran for six months. After the end of the exposure period, the content of twelve elements in lichen was determined by ICP-MS method and the obtained data were evalusted using statistical analysis and various indicators.
Results: Based on the results, the order of mean concentration of the trace elements in the R. sinensis lichen samples was determined as: Ca > K > Fe > Mg > Na > Mn > Zn > Pb > Cr > Cu > Ni > Co and the highest amount of bioaccumulation was found for the essential elements. For sevelar elements, significant differences were observed in various sampling sites. Based on the pollution load indexes (PLIs), two sites at Sharif university and Setad Bohran were more polluted than other areas. Exposed-to-control (EC) ratio values for Pb, Zn, Cr, Fe, Mn, Ni, Mg, and Co were also found in the range of 1.25-1.75. Based on the relative accumulation factor (RAF), the accumulation preference of elements by R. sinensis lichen was observed as Na > Cr > Cu > Fe > Mg > Ni > Zn > Mn > Co > Pb > Ca > K, respectively, which represents the significant ability of this species in the accumulation of elements such as Na, Cr, Cu and Fe. PCA and EF analysis indicated that trace elements adsorbed by lichen were mainly sourced from vehicle transportation.
Conclusion: This study demonstrates the application and importance of R. sinensis lichen in biomonitoring of air pollutants elements in urban areas. This approach can justify the suitability, accuracy and cost-effectiveness of lichen compared to other biomonitors for air pollutants and more importantly highlights its capability to the determination of wide levels of air pollution in large scales
[In Chinese with English Abstract] Lichen is a reliable biomonitor for atmospheric element deposition, and its element accumulation ability has differences between species and between individuals. In the lichen biomonitoring studies using in situ specimens, the composite sample is often used to represent the average accumulation level of lichen elements at each sample point, but the representativeness of the composite sample and its difference between different lichens need to be further studied. The inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was used to determine the concentrations of 52 kinds of elements in Xanthoria elegans and Dermatocarpon miniatum in Duolun County, Inner Mongolia, China. The intra-site variability and inter-species differences of these elements were compared. The results show that element concentrations in Xanthoria elegans are roughly similar to those in the congeneric species from similar habitats, confirming the characteristics of atmospheric deposition dominated by sand dust deposition in the study area. The element ranks in Dermatocarpon miniatum and Xanthoria elegans are roughly the same, indicating the same source of elements in both lichens. The concentrations of 7 nutrient elements (Ca, K, Mo, P, Rb, S and Se) are not significantly different between Dermatocarpon miniatum and Xanthoria elegans, indicating bioregulation of these elements in lichen thallus. The difference in Hg concentration between species is of no significance Possibly due to the volatility of Hg. Dermatocarpon miniatum has 1.32–2.05 times higher concentrations of the 44 elements (Al, As, B, Ba, Be, Bi, Cd, Ce, Co, Cr, Cs, Cu, Dy, Er, Eu, Fe, Gd, Ge, Ho, La, Li, Lu, Mg, Mn, Na, Nb, Nd, Ni, Pb, Pr, Sb, Sc, Sm, Sr, Tb, Th, Ti, Tl, Tm, U, V, Y, Yb and Zn) than Xanthoria elegans, showing that element-specific element-specific Dermatocarpon miniatum has a higher accumulation ability. Except for Ca (CV>31%), the intra-site variability of the concentration of the other 51 elements is <27.5% in both Dermatocarpon miniatum and Xanthoria elegans, indicating that the composite sample can represent the average level of element accumulation in both lichens.
Passive Biomonitoring with the folious lichen Hypogymnia physodes (L.) Nyl. has been tested in Switzerland. Multielement analyses enable qualitative and quantitative conclusions about the composition and amount of important active pollutants. Many elements correlate well with the general air pollution indicator IAP18. Hypogymnia physodes possess good accumulation capacity for important air pollutants. The method has been calibrated for Pb and Cu with technical deposition measurements. The “Passive Biomonitoring” and “Calibrated Lichen Indication Method” compose together an “Integral Biological Testing System for Air Pollution in Switzerland”. This system enables detailed statements on total air pollution in general and on single pollutants as well.
To assess pollutant deposition and/or accumulation over a fixed exposure period.
To assess temporal variation in pollutant deposition and in the accumulation capacity of lichens
To compare the accumulation capacity of transplanted and indigenous thalli in order to reveal possible adaptations of the latter to polluted environment.
To determine threshold levels of toxic substances in a thallus (by simultaneous assessment of morphological, physiological and ultrastructural damage).
Literature on metals, particularly heavy metals, in lichens is reviewed including mechanisms of metal uptake, retention, toxicity and tolerance. Interspecies differences in sensitivity are discussed as well as the development and nature of extreme tolerance encountered in certain taxa.
The techniques for biological monitoring are well-developed, as shown by examples in the preceding chapters. This chapter will explore two further issues: firstly, how do we decide what to measure, and secondly, what do we do with the data once it is collected? By examining these questions, we may make modifications to our biological monitoring programmes and growing computer databases. To restate, the issues which I propose to address are the following.
1.
The Selection of the state variables to be monitored. With more than a million species on the planet (Myers 1985; may 1989) we cannot possibly monitor each. Moreover, given predictions that a quarter may be extinct by the end of the next century we cannot possibly monitor even the threatened ones. How do we choose what to monitor? I will suggest a greater emphasis be placed upon macro scale state variables.
2.
The interaction between monitoring and decision making. Monitoring is by its very nature post hoc — that is, it can only tell us what has already happened. But to wisely manage the biosphere, we need to predict future events. What is the relationship between biological monitoring, prediction, and decision making?
The epiphytic lichen Parmelia caperata collected in San Rossore park was analyzed for trace elements. Metal deposition in the park was found to be low throughout the year. A slight increase in Cu, Co, and Ni occurred at the east-southeastern edge of the park adjacent to Pisa. Lichens ware not affected by the sea-spray which has destroyed the coastal vegetation. The contrast with the results of previous pine needle biomonitoring is discussed.
