Abstract
Petrochemical industries have been widely recognised as important emission sources of airborne contaminants including heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons PAHs, which affect the quality of air, soil and vegetation. In this study, our aim was to examine the phytotoxicity and phytogenotoxicity of soils and air in the vicinity of a petrochemical plant, in order to assess the potential threat of such industrial objects for crops and natural vegetation, in the cases when the allowable concentrations of contaminants are not exceeded and the plants in the vicinity visually do not seem to be affected. For phytotoxicity and phytogenotoxicity assessment, the Phytotoxkit and respectively Vicia RTA and TRAD MCN bioassays were used. According to our results, in spite of relatively low content of heavy metals and PAHs (hardly any exceedance of standards), the phytotoxicity and especially phytogenotoxicity of soil samples collected up to 18 km from the refinery were detected by the bioindicators. The phytogenotoxicity of air was also indicated within the distance of up to 12 km. We concluded that to obtain the complete view of the environmental risks in a surveyed area, a combination of chemical analysis of environmental samples with the bioindication methods should be implemented. In addition, setting the acceptable levels of contaminants should involve a more extensive use of bioindication methods (especially genotoxicity assessment).
Highlights
Our aim was to examine the phytogenotoxicity of air in the vicinity of a petrochemical plant and phytotoxicity and phytogenotoxicity of soil samples collected from the area, in order to assess the potential threat of such industrial objects for crops and natural vegetation, in the cases when allowable concentrations of contaminants are not exceeded and the plants in the vicinity visually do not seem to be affected
It should be recommended to use chemical analysis combined with bioindication methods to obtain the complete view of the environmental risks in a surveyed area. It seems that when setting the acceptable levels of contaminants, bioindication methods should be applied to a greater extent and perhaps the current standards should be reconsidered in the future
In spite of a relatively low contamination of soils with heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the vicinity of a petrochemical plant, phytotoxicity and especially phytogenotoxicity of soil samples and air were detected by bioindicators
Summary
Petrochemical industries have been widely recognised as important emission sources of airborne contaminants including heavy metals (Cortis et al 2016; Bosco et al 2005) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) (Rao et al 2008; Wang et al 2017), which affect the quality of air (Augusto et al 2010), soil (Nadal et al 2007; Nadal et al 2009; Li et al 2009; Bayat et al 2015), natural vegetation (Augusto et al 2010; Bosco et al 2005) and crops (Li et al 2009) in the vicinity.The refinery and petrochemical plant in Płock (Poland), which started operations in 1964, is still one of the largest units of this kind in Europe. According to Greguskova and Micieta (2013), specific plant responses can be observed even at very low pollutants’ concentrations and some studies proved genotoxic effects of airborne pollutants emitted by a petrochemical plant on native plant species (Misik et al 2007). It seems especially dangerous when meiotic abnormalities occur, leading to aberrant microspores, production of abortive pollen grains, and as a consequence, to seed failure. Our aim was to examine the phytogenotoxicity of air in the vicinity of a petrochemical plant and phytotoxicity and phytogenotoxicity of soil samples collected from the area, in order to assess the potential threat of such industrial objects for crops and natural vegetation, in the cases when allowable concentrations of contaminants are not exceeded and the plants in the vicinity visually do not seem to be affected
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