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Spatial evaluation of air quality by biomonitoring of toxic element accumulation in lichens in urban green areas and nature parks on the Anatolian side of Istanbul

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Abstract

The city of Istanbul is constantly exposed to air pollution due to its high population, heavy traffic — sea and air transport — and urban industry. This study basically aims to determine the recent level of airborne heavy metals, using lichen biomonitoring method. The cosmopolitan foliose lichen Xanthoria parietina growing abundantly on trees was sampled from 16 urban green spaces in 8 districts on the Anatolian side of Istanbul. Multi-element analysis by ICP-MS was applied to measure the accumulation of 10 potentially toxic trace elements in lichen samples. Spatial distributions of element levels in the air in the sampling areas are shown by mapping. According to the analysis data, the sequence of element deposition levels in lichen samples was as follows; Al > Fe > Mn > Zn > Cr > Cu > Pb > V > Ni > As. Most of the measured atmospheric element amounts yielded results much higher than the reference material in all areas. It was detected that the highest pollution in terms of Al, Cu, Fe, Mn, and Ni elements was in Elmasburnu Nature Park area in Beykoz district, which is a touristic place by the sea. Changes in the city’s air quality over the years have been evaluated by comparing element levels in these locations in a previous biomonitoring study and some differences were found. The resulting data is valuable for periodic monitoring of toxic elements in the air, for determining causes of air pollution, and for taking precautions.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr. M. Yavuz for his help in creating the contour maps and Dr. O. Sevgi for the statistical analysis. We also thank the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments. We thank Dr. S. İ. Özmen at the Mersin University Advanced Technology Department, where the analyses were carried out.

Funding

This research was supported by Marmara University Scientific Research Projects Unit (BAPKO) (FEN-C-YLP-130319-0059).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Institute of Pure and Applied Sciences, Marmara University, Istanbul, TR-34722, Turkey

    Elif Aysu Özkök

  2. Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Marmara University, Istanbul, TR-34722, Turkey

    Gülşah Çobanoğlu

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  1. Elif Aysu Özkök
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  2. Gülşah Çobanoğlu
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Contributions

Conceptualization and design: Gülşah Çobanoğlu and Elif Aysu Özkök; methodology: Gülşah Çobanoğlu and Elif Aysu Özkök; material preparation, data collection, investigation, and analysis were performed by Elif Aysu Özkök; the first draft preparation: Elif Aysu Özkök; determination and supervision: Gülşah Çobanoğlu; writing, review, and editing: Gülşah Çobanoğlu; both authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Gülşah Çobanoğlu.

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Özkök, E.A., Çobanoğlu, G. Spatial evaluation of air quality by biomonitoring of toxic element accumulation in lichens in urban green areas and nature parks on the Anatolian side of Istanbul. Environ Monit Assess 195, 908 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-023-11496-z

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