RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE ELEMENTAL COMPOSITION IN THE BARK OF Fraxinus pennsylvanica AND THE INCIDENCE OF SOME RESPIRATORY DISEASES IN CÓRDOBA, ARGENTINA.

WANNAZ, E.D.; CARRERAS, H. A.; PIGNATA ML,

Buenos Aires

Workshop; 5th International Workshop on Biomonitoring of Atmospheric Pollution; 2009

CNEA

  Different methods have been applied to monitoring  heavy metal emissions; among them, vegetal organisms have been largely employed  since they are the cheapest and simplest indicators for monitoring heavy metal levels in the atmosphere. The main advantages are the greater availability, simplicity of species identification,  sampling and  treatment, they remain in a  fixed position over a  considerable period of  time, thus enabling  analysis of trends over  time intervals. Tree bark,  because of  its porosity  and potential for retention of aerosol particles, is considered to be a promising indicator in air pollution monitoring. The WHO has recently published new  guideline values for particulate matter as evidence suggest  that there  are  health  risks at  concentrations  currently found in many cities in developed countries and  no threshold levels had been  identified  below  which  adverse health  effects do not occur. Moreover, an increasing range of adverse health effects has been linked to even lower concentrations of particulate matter. Recent  studies   suggest   that  the  incidence  of  some  respiratory  and  cardiovascular diseases in urban environments is related  to  the  prolonged  exposure to ambient levels of air pollution  (Pope et al., 2002, Dockery et al., 2003). The  city  of  Cordoba  is  the  second biggest city in Argentine and due to its topographic characteristics  severe  pollution  episodes  are  frequently  observed  particularly  during wintertime.  Thus,  the  aim  of  the  present  work  is  to  explore  the association between respiratory  diseases  and  the elemental composition levels  measured  on  tree  barks of Fraxinus pennsylvanica  in the city of Córdoba, Argentina.