Avaliação da qualidade do ar utilizando espécies arbóreas na Cidade de Patos - PB.

Abstract

Biomonitoring is quite a practicable technique nowadays used in the identification of the air quality in great urban centers. This work had as an objective to evaluate the possible atmospheric pollutants in the main avenues in the city of Patos-PB, throughout the analysis of tree vegetables used as bioindicators. The study was conducted with foliar vegetable material of arboreal species in downtown of Patos-PB. The data were collected in the intersection between Solon de Lucena and Epit‹cio Pessoa Pedro Firmino Avenues, using as control parameters values taken in Nupearido Farm in a lineal strip of 100m. The foliar material, after been dried in stove at 65ŒC and reduced, in a Wiley mill, to particles with dimensions inferior to 1mm. The material was sent to the EMBRAPA Semiarid’s Soil Laboratory Semi‹rido in Petrolina-PE to determine content of the following chemical elements: S, Fe, Zn and C. The results obtained point to an important influence of fossil fuel burn by vehicles in the elements content increase, especially S, in the atmosphere of great urban centers. The species nim and algaroba stood out as accumulators of S, the main polluent due to fossil fuel burn.