Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
Department of Environmental Science, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
Environ Monit Assess. 2023 Sep 13;195(10):1200. doi: 10.1007/s10661-023-11752-2.
Air pollution is one of the leading causes of death from noncommunicable diseases globally, and in Arizona, both mining activities and abandoned agriculture can generate erodible dust. This dust is transported via wind and can carry high amounts of toxic pollutants. Industry-adjacent communities, or "fenceline communities," are generally closer to the pollution sources and are disproportionally impacted by pollution, or in this case, dust. The dust transported from the mine settles into nearby rivers, gardens, and homes, and increases the concentrations of elements beyond their naturally occurring amounts (i.e., enriched). This study was built upon previous community science work in which plant leaves were observed to collect similar concentrations to an accepted dust collection method and illustrated promise for their use as low-cost air quality monitors in these communities. This work investigated the concentration of Na, Mg, Al, K, Ca, Mn, Co, Cu, Zn, Mo, and Ba in dust from the leaves of community-collected backyard and garden plants (foliar dust), as well as if certain variables affected collection efficacy. This assessment evaluated (1) foliar concentration versus surface area for 11 elements, (2) enrichment factor (EF) values and ratios, (3) comparisons of foliar, garden, and yard samples to US Geological Survey data, and (4) what variable significantly affected dust collection efficacy. The EF results indicate that many of the samples were enriched (anthropogenically contaminated) and that the foliar samples were generally more contaminated than the yard and garden soil samples. Leaf surface area was the most influential factor for leaf collection efficiency (p < 0.05) compared to plant family or sampling location. Further studies are needed that standardize the plant species and age and include multiple replicates of the same plant species across partnering communities. This study has demonstrated that foliar dust is enriched in the participating partnering communities and that plant leaf samples can serve as backyard aerosol pollution monitors. Therefore, foliar dust is a viable indicator of outdoor settled dust and aerosol contamination and this is an adoptable monitoring technique for "fenceline communities."
空气污染是导致全球非传染性疾病死亡的主要原因之一，而在亚利桑那州，采矿活动和废弃农业都可能产生可侵蚀的尘埃。这些尘埃通过风传播，并携带大量有毒污染物。毗邻工业的社区，或者说是“围栏社区”，通常更接近污染源，受到污染的影响更大，在这种情况下，是受到尘埃的影响更大。从矿山中运输的尘埃沉降到附近的河流、花园和房屋中，使元素的浓度超过其自然含量（即富集）。本研究是在前一项社区科学工作的基础上进行的，该工作观察到植物叶片收集的污染物浓度与一种公认的尘埃收集方法相似，并表明它们有望作为这些社区中低成本空气质量监测器的使用前景。这项工作研究了从社区收集的后院和花园植物叶片（叶尘）中的尘埃中 Na、Mg、Al、K、Ca、Mn、Co、Cu、Zn、Mo 和 Ba 的浓度，以及某些变量是否影响收集效果。该评估评估了：（1）11 种元素的叶面积与叶面积比；（2）富集因子（EF）值和比率；（3）叶尘、花园和院子样本与美国地质调查局数据的比较；（4）哪些变量显著影响尘埃收集效果。EF 结果表明，许多样本都受到了富集（人为污染），而且叶尘样本的污染程度通常高于院子和花园土壤样本。与植物科或采样地点相比，叶片表面积是影响叶片收集效率的最主要因素（p<0.05）。需要进一步的研究，标准化植物种类和年龄，并在合作社区中对同一植物物种进行多次重复采样。本研究表明，参与合作社区的叶尘受到了富集，植物叶片样本可以作为后院气溶胶污染监测器。因此，叶尘是户外沉降尘埃和气溶胶污染的可行指标，这是一种适用于“围栏社区”的监测技术。
