Tree bark as a bioindicator of the presence of scandium, yttrium and lanthanum in urban environments

Abstract

Although rare earth elements (REEs) are important in modern industry, few processes use them, so the possibility of these elements being dispersed in the environment is small. For this reason, there are few studies on their presence in urban environments. REEs exhibit similar chemical properties, and Group 3 elements may be used as indicators of the presence of other REEs in the environment. Tree bark is a suitable collector of airborne trace elements and has been successfully used as a bioindicator. In this study, samples of holm oak bark were collected from three sampling sites subjected to different anthropic pressures (one area is far from human influence, while the other two sites are urban areas characterized by different types of human impact). The reference area is significantly different from urban areas where the concentrations measured are up to 5 times higher (Y) than the reference area. The differences between the two urban areas are also significant. The presence of industrial activities causes a 50% higher exposition of the population with respect to an urban area where only residential activities are present. In the case of La, there is no significant difference between the reference and the residential areas, while the industries are responsible for higher La concentrations (0.9 μg g−1vs. 0.4–0.6 μg g−1). The availability of samples, due to the wide distribution of trees in urban environments, makes possible the production of maps indicating the sources of these elements and highlighting areas which are critical for certain atmospheric pollutants.