Trace elements as air pollutants

Relationship between epiphytic lichens, trace elements and gaseous atmospheric pollutants.

A study was conducted to determine the joint effect of gaseous atmospheric pollutants and trace elements on epiphytic lichens. We used our data to test the hypothesis that lichens are generally insensitive to toxic effects of trace elements, and can therefore be used as accumulator organisms to estimate concentrations of these elements in the environment. In a field study in The Netherlands the...

Criteria air pollutants and toxic air pollutants.

This review presents a brief overview of the health effects and exposures of two criteria pollutants--ozone and particulate matter--and two toxic air pollutants--benzene and formaldehyde. These pollutants were selected from the six criteria pollutants and from the 189 toxic air pollutants on the basis of their prevalence in the United States, their physicochemical behavior, and the magnitude of...

Trace elements as paradigms of developmental neurotoxicants

Trace elements have contributed unique insights into developmental neurotoxicity and serve as paradigms for such adverse effects. Many trace elements are retained in the body for long periods and can be easily measured for the purpose of exposure assessment by inexpensive analytical methods of analysis that became available several decades ago. Thus, past and cumulated exposures could be easily...

Air quality and trace elements biomonitoring in Tehran urban areas using epiphytic lichen

Background and Objective: Air quality and distribution of trace elements in the Tehran metropolis were evaluated using transplants of the epiphytic lichen Ramalina sinensis. Materials and Methods: Thalli of R. sinensis were collected from a non-contaminated area and transplanted in the six urban sites of Tehran for six months. After the end of the exposure period, the content of twelve element...

Trace elements.