Assessment of both environmental cytotoxicity and trace metal pollution using Populus simonii Carr. as a bioindicator

Our plain-English summary of Assessment of both environmental cytotoxicity and trace metal pollution using Populus simonii Carr. as a bioindicator, by V. Sluchyk, I. Sluchyk, A. Shyichuk (Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 2014).

The study

• Authors: V. Sluchyk, I. Sluchyk, A. Shyichuk
• Journal: Environmental Monitoring and Assessment
• Published: 2014;186(10):6645-50
• Cited by: 5 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

The level of environmental pollution in the city of Ivano-Frankivsk (Western Ukraine) has been assessed by means of roadside poplar trees as bioindicators. Dividable apical meristem cells of rudimentary leaves were quantitatively analysed for mitotic activity and distribution. Anaphases were further examined for chromosomal aberrations. Male catkins were also examined for sterile pollens. Accumulation of trace elements in vegetative buds was also evaluated in order to reveal source(s) of environmental pollution. Poplar trees growing in the urban environment proved to have increased chromosomal aberrations (up to 4-fold) and increased pollen sterility (up to 4-fold) as well as decreased mitotic activity (by factor 1.5) as compared to control sampling site. The biomarker data correlate moderately with increased (up to 4-fold) concentrations of Ni, Zn, Pb, Cd and Cu in vegetative tissues suggesting that probable cause of the environmental cytotoxicity may be vehicle emissions. The maximum increase in chromosomal aberrations (7-fold) and the minimum mitotic activity (half of the control one) were recorded in poplar trees growing in industrial suburb in vicinity of large cement production plant. Taking in mind insignificant bioaccumulation of trace elements in the industrial suburb, the high environmental toxicity has been ascribed to contamination in cement and asbestos particulates.

In plain English

This field study used roadside poplar trees (Populus simonii Carr.) as living pollution indicators in Ivano-Frankivsk, Western Ukraine. The authors sampled five trees, aged 60 to 80 years, at each of five city sites, at an industrial suburb next to a large cement and fibre cement plant, and at a low-traffic control town. They examined leaf-bud cells for chromosome damage and cell division, pollen for sterility, and buds for trace metals. In the industrial suburb, chromosome aberrations were found in 7.04% of dividing cells examined (anaphases), compared with 1.04% at the control site. Cell-division activity there was about half the control level. Three city sites also showed significantly more chromosome damage. Tree tissue at the city sites had higher levels of nickel, zinc, lead, cadmium and copper, while metal levels in the industrial suburb were close to control. The authors attributed the city-site effects to traffic-related metals. They attributed the industrial-suburb effects to emissions from the cement plant, which their abstract described as cement and asbestos particulates. The article reports no asbestos measurements, and only trees, not people, were studied.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Field biomonitoring study using trees as bioindicators (cytogenetic tests plus trace-element analysis of plant tissue)
• Who was studied: Poplar trees (Populus simonii Carr.), aged 60 to 80 years, five per site. Sites were five city sampling sites in Ivano-Frankivsk, one industrial suburb (village Yamnytsa) and one control site (town of Rozhniativ). All trees stood within 10 m of a main road. Sampling dates are not given.
• Exposure: Urban environmental pollution, including traffic, at city sites. Emissions near a large cement and fibre cement plant at the industrial suburb. No fiber type was measured.
• Main results:
  • Anaphases with chromosomal aberrations were 7.04% (107 of 1519) in the industrial suburb and 1.04% (16 of 1539) at the control site, a 6.8-fold increase.
  • Aberrations were significantly increased at the North (2.46%), Northeast (1.95%) and Central (4.13%) city sites. There was no statistically significant difference at the South and Southeast sites.
  • The mitotic index (cell-division activity) was lowest in the industrial suburb, about half the control value (56 versus 118 per thousand cells in the figure).
  • Sterile pollen was increased at the North, Northeast and Central sites and in the industrial suburb (figure values: control 6.2%, Central 25.3%, industrial suburb 18.5%).
  • Ni, Zn, Cu, Cd and Pb concentrations were significantly increased in city tree tissues compared with control. In the industrial suburb, trace element concentrations stayed close to control.
  • Across the city and control sites (excluding the industrial suburb), chromosomal damage and pollen sterility correlated with Pb, Zn and Ni. The mitotic index correlated with Cu and Cd (for example, aberrations with Zn 0.78; mitotic index with Cd -0.812).
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that toxicity in the industrial suburb was most probably caused by emissions from the cement plant; their abstract ascribed it to cement and asbestos particulates. They attributed toxicity at the North, Northeast and Central sites to traffic-related metals, and concluded that poplar trees are useful bioindicators.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The authors note that the analytical technique used to measure trace elements had rather low sensitivity, which they relied on the trees' bioaccumulation to overcome.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Biomarker.

Related studies

• Topsoil and urban dust pollution and toxicity in Taranto (southern Italy) industrial area and in a residential district — M. Trifuoggi, G. Pagano, et al. (2018)
• Impact of effects of acid precipitation on toxicity of metals — G.F. Nordberg, R.A. Goyer, et al. (1985)
• The wild rat as sentinel animal in the environmental risk assessment of asbestos pollution: a pilot study — M. Ardizzone, C. Vizio, et al. (2014)
• Metal load assessment in patient pulmonary lavages: towards a comprehensive mineralogical analysis including the nano-sized fraction — V. Forest, J.M. Vergnon, et al. (2017)
• Composition of heavy metals and airborne fibers in the indoor environment of a building during renovation — M.T. Latif, N.H. Baharudin, et al. (2011)
• Are metals accumulated in human hair affected by naturally occurring asbestos fiber contamination? A case study from a rural area of china — B. Wei, L. Yang, et al. (2013)

Browse more research in Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, or return to medical research.