Journal of Pollution

Biomonitoring of Distribution of Nickel and Vanadium using Calotropis procera L. in Jeddah City, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Abdullah N Al-Dhaibani, Abdullah M Farid Ghazal and Ibrahim A Alhagri

The aim of this study was to investigate the ability of Calotropis procera L., as a biomonitoring technique for airborne Vanadium (V) and Nickel (Ni) pollution distribution at four different areas in and around Jeddah city, Saudi Arabia. Concentrations of V and Ni varied significantly between sites. The maximum concentrations of V were 68.06, 40.91 and 25.04 mg kg-1 for soil samples, unwashed plant samples (UWS) and washed plant samples (WS), respectively in the industrial area. However, Ni concentrations were 42.73, 39.09 and 22.40 mg kg-1 for the same samples, respectively in the roadside area. The results indicated that V concentrations were at the order of: roadside > industrial area > residential area. This was not the case with Ni as the order industrial > roadside area > residential area. There was a significant correlation between the V and Ni concentrations in soil and plant samples. The study also showed that the concentrations of V and Ni on the unwashed leaves were higher than those on the washed leaves and this magnified the effect of airborne fall dust on the ambient air quality in Jeddah City. Based on the results of this study, it was recommended that the Calotropis procera plant can be used as a biological technique for the airborne heavy metals bio monitoring, especially in the arid land region countries.