Environmental contamination by lead and cadmium in plants from urban area of Madrid, Spain

Abstract

The monitoring of atmospheric pollution is of great importance. The use of biological materials as metal indicators has been reported to be a relatively cheap, simple and reliable method. Many studies have been made on the influence of air pollution upon plants; however, studies on the relation between metals in airborne particulates and plants are few. Plants are important in the biogeochemical cycle of heavy metals: lead associated with leaves or other deciduous tissue is recycled relatively fast, while lead contained in woody parts of the plant is recycled over a much longer period of time. The aim of this paper is: (a) to determine the lead and cadmium content of the plants investigated; (b) to determine the variations in lead and cadmium in 15 places of the city of Madrid (Spain); (c) to obtain correlations between lead, cadmium, motor traffic, and rain.