Abstract
ABSTRACTAs the capital of China, Beijing is continuously exposed to high amount of airborne dust, thus it is necessary to find improvement methods. Taking advantage of phytoremediation, an ecological and friendly way to improve air quality, this study investigates the role of urban plant leaves in removing airborne dust and its associated metals by analyzing leaf samples of 32 plant species in autumn. Results showed that leaves could remove dust from 0.510 to 23.0 g m–2 with an overall mean of 7.50 g m–2 on Beijing roadside sites. Some species removed certain metals more efficiently than others. Leaves of Chaenomeles speciosa accumulated the highest Cd (9.48 µg g–1) and the highest Cr value (19.8 µg g–1) was observed for leaves of Sorbaria kirilowii. Both of the highest concentrations of Cu (34.1 µg g–1) and Fe (868 µg g–1) appeared for leaves of Sophora japonica, whilst the highest values of Mn (169 µg g–1) and Ni (18.7 µg g–1) were found for leaves of Rosa chinensis and Prunus cerasifera f. atropurpurea, respectively. Populus beijingensis accumulated the most Pb (6.57 µg g–1) and Populus tomentosa the most Zn (142 µg g–1). For multi-metal pollution, Metal Accumulation Index (MAI) values were calculated, and the highest values were observed in unwashed leaves of Amygdalus persica (387), washed leaves of Punica granatum (105) and leaf dust of Viburnum sargentii (6.46). Plant species with dust accumulation rate above the mean including Koelreuteria paniculata, Ulmus pumila, Syringa oblata, Malus micromalu, Weigela florida cv. Red Prince, Ailanthus altissima, Salix babylonica, Robinia pseudoacacia, Ligustrum × vicaryi, Euonymus japonicus, Prunus cerasifera f. atropurpurea, Magnolia denudata, and species with higher MAI values including Amygdalus persica, Magnolia denudata, Syringa oblata are suggested to be considered in future green belt planning in Beijing.
Highlights
Most developing nations have been influenced by atmospheric pollution, in terms of human health (Anderson et al, 2012), climate change (Kan et al, 2012) and loss of biodiversity (Lovett et al, 2009)
An ecological and friendly way to improve air quality, this study investigates the role of urban plant leaves in removing airborne dust and its associated metals by analyzing leaf samples of 32 plant species in autumn
Red Prince, Ailanthus altissima, Salix babylonica, Robinia pseudoacacia, Ligustrum × vicaryi, Euonymus japonicus, Prunus cerasifera f. atropurpurea, Magnolia denudata, and species with higher Metal Accumulation Index (MAI) values including Amygdalus persica, Magnolia denudata, Syringa oblata are suggested to be considered in future green belt planning in Beijing
Summary
Most developing nations have been influenced by atmospheric pollution, in terms of human health (Anderson et al, 2012), climate change (Kan et al, 2012) and loss of biodiversity (Lovett et al, 2009). Escobedo et al (2008) found that planting vegetation in urban areas of Santiago City, Chile was a cost-effective measure to capture air pollutants. In China, vegetation covering an area of 1639 ha at eight residential areas in Beijing could remove 2170 tons of dust (Zhang et al, 1997), and trees in the city center could remove 772 tons of PM10 over a year (Yang et al, 2005). Studies from other Chinese cities showed that concentrations of PM decreased by 9.1% near a forest in Shanghai (Yin et al, 2011) and the amount of dust retained by trees was measured as 8600 t yr–1 in an area of 103 km in Zhengzhou (Zhao et al, 2002). A study in Huizhou, Guangdong province found that foliar dust contains appreciable amounts of Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, Zn, and S as 0.040 t, 1.63 t, 2.70 t, 1.84 t, 5.54 t, and 19.52 t respectively from a study area (Qiu et al, 2009)
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