Tradescantia pallida cv. purpurea boom in the characterization of air pollution by accumulation of trace elements

Tradescantia pallida cv. purpurea, a plant species widely employed for ornamentation in Brazil, has been successfully used for monitoring the genotoxicity of various agents by the micronucleus assay. To amplify knowledge about its suitability as a bioindicator species, its capacity for accumulating trace elements from urban air pollution was evaluated. T. pallida was rooted using standardized soil, and the vases were distributed in two highly polluted sites of the urban area of São Paulo, Brazil (Cerqueira Cesar and Congonhas districts), and in one unpolluted control site situated approximately 50 km from downtown São Paulo (in Caucaia do Alto). Approximately six months after exposure to pollutants, adult leaves of this plant were collected monthly for 12 months. The leaves were washed with deionized water, dried, and ground for analyses. Characterization of element levels was carried out by neutron activation analysis. Powdered samples and standards were irradiated at the IEA-R1 nuclear reactor for short and long periods, and concentrations of As, Ba, Br, Ca, Ce, Cl, Cr, Co, Fe, K, La, Mn, Na, Rb, Sb, Sc, Sr, Th, and Zn were determined. Analysis of variance applied to the results indicated that samples from polluted sites present the highest concentrations of Ba, Ce, Cr, Co, Fe, La, Sb, and Sc (p < 0.05). Discriminant analysis revealed that it was possible to distinguish the two polluted areas with a precision of 97.5%, based on the amount of pollutant elements measured in the plants at each site. The results indicated the potential use of T. pallida as an accumulator plant for air pollution biomonitoring.