Magnetic biomonitoring of PM pollution in Aburrá Valley (Colombia) using the specie Tillandsia recurvata

DANIELA MEJIA; MAURO A.E. CHAPARRO; JOSÉ F. DUQUE; ANA G. CASTAÑEDA MIRANDA; MARCOS A.E. CHAPARRO; DANIELA MOLINARI

Medellín

Workshop; Air quality in cities and its impact on human health, agriculture and natural ecosystems: a numerical modelling perspective; 2017

Universidad EAFIT y Universidad de Antioquia

Recently, the highest air pollution levels for the particulate matter PM2.5 were reported in the Aburrá Valley Metropolitan Area (AVMA), consequence of anthropogenic activities occurring in its 10 districts. Here, in order to characterize the sources of atmospheric PM in the valley, we studied the magnetic properties of airborne PM by using various magnetic methods (e.g.: mass-specific magnetic susceptibility χ) and 260 Tillandsia recurvata specimens (an epiphyte biomonitor of air pollution in sub-tropical urban areas) collected along the Matropolitan Area.