Air Quality Monitoring Using Tradescantia Pallida Purpurea As A Bioindicator

Luana Góes Soares¹*, Sérgio Renato da Silva Soares²,
Sandra Kunst³, Cláudia Oliveira Trindade¹, Marcelo Christoff⁴

¹Feevale University – Laboratório de Estudos Avançados em Materiais Câmpus II, RS239, 2755,
CEP: 93525-075, Novo Hamburgo-RS, (BRAZIL)
²Universidade Federal de Rondonópolis – Av. dos Estudantes, 5055 – Cidade Universitária,
Rondonópolis-MT, CEP: 78736-900, (BRAZIL)
³Projeto de Fixação de Recursos Humanos do CNPq-Nível A (RHAE), (BRAZIL)
⁴Universidade Estadual do Rio Grande do Sul – Rua Washington Luis, 675 – Centro Histórico,
Porto Alegre-RS, CEP: 90010-460, (BRAZIL)

PAGE NO: 089-094

ABSTRACT – DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.47204/EMSR.6.2.2024.089-094

The present study is part of the urgency and great need to obtain more concrete data regarding the true effects caused by air pollution on human health. Since this pollution comes mainly from industries, power plants, thermoelectric plants, car traffic, among others. The use of bioindicator plants for the detection of atmospheric pollutants in living organisms seems to be a very adequate methodology, as it can give us an idea of the possible effects that this causes in human beings. In this work we used Tradescantia pallida purpurea as a bioindicator to investigate the air quality along the BR-116 highway, located in the RMPA (Metropolitan Region of Porto Alegre). Were held weekly collections of young inflorescences from exposed plants, covering contiguous areas, such as: from the University Park in Canoas to Esteio. The results obtained indicate signs of deterioration and several episodes of exceeding air quality standards.