PJB-2019-749
EXPOSURE OF SULFUR OXIDES TO THE INHABITANTS AT THE OUTSKIRTS OF HIGHWAYS BY USING EUCALYPTUS AND AZADIRACHTA INDICA TREES AS BIOINDICATORS
H ASLAM
Abstract
Due to poor administration of massive fossil fuel burning, air pollution is growing noticeably resulting in the most environmental problems. In Pakistan growth rate of population, industrialization with increase in power and urbanization is very rapid resulting an increase in different types of air pollutants. Trees play an important role to assess the contents of such toxic chemical moieties in air. The current research project was designed to use Eucalyptus and Azadirachta indica trees as bioindicators to assess the presence of sulfur oxides (SO2, SO3). Samples of leaves and barks were collected from rural and urban areas of district Faisalabad and Vehari highways and far away from highways to establish a comparison. The digestion of samples was carried out with HNO3 and then BaSO4 turbidity was induced in each sample. The density of BaSO4 turbidity in each sample was proportional to the concentration of SOx in the extracted material. Uv-Visible spectrophotometer was employed to determine absorbance of turbidity at 420 nm. A comparison between samples collected from main road and away from the road was established and the results depicted that SOx concentration in samples located at main roads was higher than trees away from main roads. Furthermore, the barks showed a higer concentration of sulfur than compared to leaves. On the whole, the present project provided useful information about exposure of sulfur to inhabitants close to the main road and away from the main roads.
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