Heavy metals determination in aerobiological samples during the COVID-19 pandemic

ESCUDERO DR; MARIO FRANCO MOYANO

Modalidad Virtual

Congreso; XXXIXReunión Científica Anual Sociedad de Biología de Cuyo; 2021

Sociedad de Biología de Cuyo

Atmospheric air carries a big number of particles and environmental pollutants, to which people are exposed, coming from anthropogenicactivities. Metal pollution has been increasing rapidly over the past century in relation to the growth of human population contaminantsproduction. Thus, aero particles such as pollen grains may contain various trace elements, and their amounts vary from one species toanother. They can present traces of metals such as lead (Pb), barium (Ba) and manganese (Mn), which are among the most common airand soil contaminants and are considered toxic to living beings. In the present work, we propose a simple and fast method for themultielemental determination of traces in aerobiological samples. The samples of aeroparticles (n=50) was obtained with a volumetricLanzoni sensor, which is located on the terrace of the National University of San Luis. This device allows the capture of particles suspendedin the air with a week periodicity, and with a suction flow of 10 l of air min-1, similar to the volume of air inhaled by the human lung. Thepollen content was analyzed during two months of 2019 (n=25) and 2021 (n=25) with continuous aerobiological sampling, in theatmosphere of the city of San Luis, Argentina. Aerobiological samples were observed with an optical microscope at 400 X and they wereidentified with the palynotheque belonging to Aerobiology´s laboratory. The pollination period studied was from March to April. Formultielement determination, a mass spectrometer with inductively coupled plasma (ICP-MS) was used. The aeroparticle samples weresubjected to acid digestion at 90 ° C for one hour. Pb and Ba were determined in 2019 at representative levels, 11.85±0.71 and 4.35±0.27ppb, respectively. There was a significant difference in Mn concentrations compared to 2021, 21.75±1.24 vs 12.35±0.87 ppb, p