Biomonitoring of heavy metal pollution using lichen (pseudevernia furfuracea (l.) zopf.) exposed in bags in a semi-arid region, Turkey

Abstract

In this study, the lichen Pseudevernia furfuracea (L.) Zopf. samples were collected from Çat Forests near the village of Sızır in Sivas province and exposed in bags in 29 different sites of Kayseri city, Turkey. The elements Pb, Cd, Cu, Zn, Cr, and Co were analysed by ICP-OES in the lichen samples. Lichen bags were exposed for two periods (dry and wet) starting from the beginning of July 2005. In the wet period, ıt was observed that the lichen accumulated a larger quantity of metals. The contents of heavy metals in lichen samples were found to be in range of 0.16–0.31 μg g−1, 9.50–18.89 μg g−1, 23.50–68.24 μg g−1, 3.10–30.81 μg g−1, 0.07–2.54 μg g−1, and 3.33–5.63 μg g−1 for Cd, Cu, Zn, Pb, Cr, and Co, respectively. Pseudevernia furfuracea has been found to be a useful biomonitor of the six heavy metals studied because of greater lichen resistance to the dry and stressing conditions of urban environments.