Tree Bark as a Bioindicator for Arsenic and Heavy Metal Air Pollution in Rajnandgaon District, Chhattisgarh, India

Abstract

Rajnandgaon district (Chhattisgarh, India) faces serious arsenic pollution problems. Tree bark could be a valuable indicator of As and heavy metals air contamination. In this study, road dust was sampled in 13 locations, finding As, Cr, Mn, Cu, Zn, and Pb concentrations in the 165–329 , 107–151 , 704–998 , 43–84, 61–117 , and 26–62 mg·kg−1 range, respectively. The sensitivity of bark from 32 tree species—widespread in the area of study—was assessed with a view to their utilization as bioindicators, and correlations between contaminant contents in the road dust and in the tree barks were calculated. The high accumulation of pollutants and strong correlations attained suggest that M. indica, P. sylvestris, E. globulus, D. sissoo, A. marmelos, and F. benghalensis may be promising choices for As, Cr, Cu, Mn, Zn, and Pb air quality monitoring, respectively.