Ricerc@Sapienza

Lichen transplants Evernia prunastri (L.) Ach. and recently available low-cost PM10samplers were placed side-by-side for one year at twenty-three sites located in an urban-industrial hot-spot of Central Italy, thus enablingthe construction of an extensive and dense air quality monitoring network. Accumulation levels of the elementsin lichens afterfive months and thirteen months of exposure were compared with the means of the elementconcentrations determined in the PM10sampled during the same monitoring periods.

The ability of lichen transplant Evernia prunastri (L.) Ach. to reflect air concentration and spatial distribution of 7 polychlorinated dibenzodioxins (PCDDs), 10 polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), and 23 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) was evaluated through the construction of a wide and dense biomonitoring network. For this purpose, 23 lichen transplants were placed in a highly polluted area in Central Italy, characterized by the presence of different local emission sources such as a power plant, a steel plant, vehicular traffic, and domestic heating.