Microorganisms as biological indicators of air pollution.

Abstract

Many countries have recently established networks for monitoring air pollution, which generally employ physicochemical methods of analysis. In many places, biological indicator systems are also used to evaluate air quality. Some highly standardized methods employ lichens or tobacco, which react selectively with particulate air pollutants (ARNDT et al., 1985), or cultures of grass which accumulate heavy metals (VDI, German Assoc. of Engineers, 1978). Frequently a combination of different species of green plants and lichens is used to detect the effects of various air pollutants. Such bioindicators, being living organisms, react to a sum total of toxic effects in the air and thus may yield valuable information more relevant to the health of man than that provided merely by physicochemical measurement of air pollutants. Bacteria, the smallest organisms with a complete metabolism, have long been used to assess the efficacy of antimicrobial agents or equipment and have recently been shown to be very convenient indicators of DNA-damaging substances, e.g., in conjunction with the Ames test (AMES et al., 1975).