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Environment International 31 (
Determining the heavy metal pollution in Denizli (Turkey) by using
Robinio pseudo-acacia L.
Ali Celika,*, AslVhan A. Kartalb, Abdullah Akdoganb, Yakup Kaskaa
aDepartment of Biology, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Pamukkale University, Denizli, TurkeybDepartment of Chemistry, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Pamukkale University, Denizli, Turkey
Received 30 March 2004; accepted 14 July 2004
Available online 15 September 2004
Abstract
The leaves of Robinia pseudo-acacia L. (Fabaceae) were evaluated as a biomonitors of heavy metal contamination in Denizli city, Turkey.
Concentrations of Fe, Zn, Pb, Cu, Mn and Cd were determined in washed and unwashed leaves and soils collected from a wide range of sites
with different degrees of metal pollution (industry, urban roadside, suburban) and from a rural (control) site by atomic absorption spectrometry.
All the elements that measured were found to be at high levels in samples collected at industrial sites, except for lead and copper which were
found at high levels in samples collected from urban roadsides that associated with the road traffic. The strong correlation between the degree
of contamination and concentrations in all plant leaves assessed display that the leaves of R. pseudo-acacia reflect the environmental changes
accurately, and that they seem as an effective biomonitor of environmental quality in areas subjected to industrial and traffic pollutions.
D 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Robinia pseudo-acacia; Heavy metals; Biomonitor; Denizli; Turkey
1. Introduction
Pollution of the environment with toxic metals has
increased dramatically since the onset of the industrial
revolution (Nriagu, 1979). Soil pollution with heavy metals,
such as cadmium, lead, chromium, copper, etc., is a problem
of concern. Although heavy metals are naturally present in
soils, contamination comes from local sources, mostly
industry (mainly non-ferrous industries, but also power
plants, iron and steel and chemical industries), agriculture
(irrigation with polluted waters, use of fertilizers, especially
phosphates, contaminated manure, sewage sludge and
pesticides containing heavy metals), waste incineration,
combustion of fossil fuels and road traffic. Long-range
transport of atmospheric pollutants adds to the metal load
and is the main source of heavy metals in natural areas
0160-4120/$ - see front matter D 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.envint.2004.07.004
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +90 258 213 4030; fax: +90 258 212
5546.
E-mail address: acelik@pamukkale.edu.tr (A. Celik).
(European Environmental Agency, 1995). In recent years, it
has been shown that lead levels in soil and vegetation has
increased considerably due to traffic pollution i.e., usage of
leaded petrol and exhaust combustion (Otvos et al., 2003;
Koeppe, 1981; Biney et al., 1994; Onianwa and Adoghe,
1997). The problem rises as daily traffic increases (Wheeler
and Rolfe, 1979; Motto et al., 1970). Recently, a report was
made which confirmed that the main source of air pollution
in city areas of Turkey was due to the amount of traffic on
the roads using leaded petrol (Soylak et al., 2000; Ozturk
and Turkan, 1991; Aksoy et al., 2000a; Market, 1993). The
reason being, lead content of the petrol sold to consumers
throughout the country is quite high. As city population ever
increases, so does the demand for creating more industry
which adds to the problems already made. Over the years,
like many other developed countries, Turkey’s environ-
mental policies did not consider these problems an issue.
Therefore, they were not able to forecast the seriousness of
the problems which have now arisen.
Botanical materials such as fungi, lichens, tree bark, tree
rings and leaves of higher plants, have been used to detect
2005) 105–112
A. Celik et al. / Environment International 31 (2005) 105–112106
the deposition, accumulation and distribution of metal
pollution. Lower plants, especially mosses, algae and
lichens, in view of their higher capacity for metal
accumulation, are probably the organism most frequently
used for monitoring metal pollution in urban environments
(Conti and Cecchetti, 2003; Fernandez et al., 2002;
Campanella et al., 2001; Garty et al., 1997). The monitoring
of the levels of atmospheric trace metallic concentration by
using different types of biological monitors and various
vegetations had been reported (Del Rıo et al., 2002; Rao
and Dubey, 1992; Morselli et al., 2004). Heavy metals
emitted into the environment in different ways, i.e. trans-
Fig. 1. The province of Den
portation, industry, fossil fuels, agriculture, and other
human activities (Aksoy et al., 2000a). Bioaccumulation
of substances, including heavy metals, has been reported by
a number of workers. Pyatt (1999) reported the heavy metal
concentrations in the pine needles and Pyatt (2001) reported
also in another study about the heavy metal concentrations
in another acacia tree (Accacia retinoides) from Cyprus and
these plants were found to act as effective bioaccumulators
of heavy metals (Pyatt, 1999, 2001). The metal concen-
trations were also investigated in the soils and plants
(Bowell and Ansah, 1994) in Ghana. Jonnalagadda and
Nenzou (1997) investigated the spoil tips of eastern
izli as the study site.
A. Celik et al. / Environment International 31 (2005) 105–112 107
Zimbabwe and recorded enhanced concentrations of arsenic
in the leaves of Amaranthus hybridus. The most economical
and reasonable method for monitoring the heavy metal
levels in the atmosphere, is using vegetation. Scots pines
(Yilmaz and Zengin, 2004) and acacia (Aksoy et al., 2000a)
and other plants (Aksoy et al., 2000b) and other organisms
such as fishes (Rashed, 2001) were also used for
biomonitoring.
The province of Denizli, located in the Western Anatolia,
is the second biggest industry and trade centre in Turkey
(Fig. 1). It is a rapidly growing city and its present
population is estimated to be around 850.029, compared
with 315.934 in 1945. The city has a semi-arid upper cold
type of Mediterranean climate (Akman, 1982).
The aim of present study is to look into the pollution
levels of Fe, Zn, Pb, Cu, Mn and Cd using Robinio pseudo-
acacia L. as bioindicator in Denizli. R. pseudo-acacia were
selected as a biomonitor of heavy metal pollution for
numerous reasons; it grows widely in both urban and rural
areas; has a widely geographical range, ecological distribu-
tion throughout the world; and sampling, identification and
cultivation is easy and inexpensive.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Sampling area
There are many small and medium size industrial
facilities, mainly metallurgical, textile, cement, and elec-
trical supplement factories in Denizli area (Fig. 1). Samples
from the industrialized area were taken from different places
between 0 and 10 m around the factories. Preferred urban
sites for sampling were the most crowded parts of the city
centre. Leaf samples of urban roadside were collected about
2 m away from the main road. The traffic density of the road
was estimated to be 847 vehicles per hour. Suburban sites
were chosen from the edge of the city which is an outskirts
area. For uncontaminated controls, samples were taken from
Aydogdu Mount, about 40 km south of the city of Denizli.
2.2. Sample collection and preparation
The leaves of R. pseudo-acacia and soil samples were all
collected from different areas during July–August 2001. The
numbers of samples from different sites for each category
were as follows; industrial=13, urban roadside=15, sub-
urban=8, and rural area (control)=4. About 200 g (fresh
weight) of adult leaves from each direction (west, east, south
and north) of R. pseudo-acacia were collected. Leaf
selection was from the middle section of the main leafy
area of the plant. The leaf samples were then divided into
two sub-samples. One sub-sample was thoroughly washed
with running distilled water to remove dust particles, and the
other remained untreated. All leaf samples were oven-dried
at 80 8C for 24 h, milled in a micro-hammer cutter and fed
through a 0.2-mm sieve. The leaf samples were stored in
clean self-sealing plastic bags. Contamination from the
micro-hammer cutter was negligible while grinding, since it
was washed with first absolute alcohol, then with triply
distilled water after each use.
Doubly distilled water and high purity reagents were
used for all preparations of the standard and sample
solutions. Standard stock solutions containing 1000 mg
l�1 analyte were prepared from nitrate salts of Cd, Cu, Fe,
Ni, Mn and Pb in 1% HNO3 in 1-l calibrated flasks. Diluted
standard solutions and model solutions were daily prepared
from the stock standard solutions. For sediment analysis, 0.1
g of standard reference material (NRC-CRM GBW 07309
from China) was digested with aqua regia at room temper-
ature, and then heated to 95 8C. After the evolution of NO2
fumes had ceased, the mixture was evaporated almost to
dryness on a sand-bath and mixed with 8 ml of aqua regia.
The mixture was again evaporated to dryness. The resulting
mixture was filtered through an Advantec Toyo 5A filter
paper. The sample was diluted to 10 ml with distilled water.
The samples were processed as described by Perkin
Elmer (1996) for plant digestion. In this method, 1 g of
ground dried plant sample was put in 100-ml beakers. Ten
milliliters of concentrated HNO3 was added, and the beakers
covered with watch glass. Then all mixtures were left
overnight. Following day, the beaker was heated carefully
on a hot plate until the production of red NO2 fumes has
ceased. After cooling of solution, 2 ml of HClO4 was added.
Samples were heated again as long as a small part of
mixture was remained. After that, the solution was filtered
using a membrane with 0.45 Am pores, taken in a 25-ml
flask, diluted with triply distilled water, aspirated into an air-
acetylene flame and the metals were measured by flame
atomic absorption spectrometry. Owing to suppression or
enhancement of signal by the sample matrix (due to high
viscosity, chemical reaction with the analyte, etc.) encoun-
tered often in flame spectrometric methods a standard
addition technique (which tends to compensate for variation
caused by physical and chemical interferences in the sample
solution) was used in this study. Standards of Cd, Pb, Fe,
Zn, Mn and Cu (MERCK) were set by stepwise dilution of
stock-standards which were prepared using the pure metals
or analytical grade salts of the metals. Stock solutions were
prepared in 10% HNO3 and results were corrected for
reagent blanks. The reproducibility of the method used in
the present study was confirmed triplicate analysis. The
analyses were performed immediately after preparation of
samples.
A 0.5 g of soil sample was placed in glass beakers and 10
ml conc. HNO3 solution were added. Then, the sample was
heated at 150 8C for about 3 h, followed by evaporation to
near dryness. After that, 2 ml of conc. HC1O4 was added
and digestion was continued by evaporation to near dryness
again. Then, 2 ml of conc. HCl was added and heated at 150
8C for about 15 min. Finally, the sample was transferred into
25 ml volumetric flask and diluted up to the mark with
ifferentsitesofDenizli
Cu
Cd
Mn
T-test
Unwashed
Washed
T-test
Unwashed
Washed
T-test
Unwashed
Washed
T-test
***
16.92F2.01
8.46F0.83
***
3.70F1.45
1.99F0.82
***
349.2F1.38
229.2F12.28
***
***
20.81F1.39
10.15F1.26
***
1.33F0.17
0.756F0.09
***
221.3F9.47
175.3F4.89
***
***
12.22F1.63
8.125F0.65
***
0.805F0.09
0.570F0.03
***
147.8F3.29
95.4F3.27
***
*5.64F0.08
5.28F0.09
*0.365F0.01
0.325F0.01
*53.6F3.01
43.3F2.18
*
***
***
***
***
***
***
A. Celik et al. / Environment International 31 (2005) 105–112108
doubly distilled water. A Cole-Parmer micro-filtration
apparatus with membrane filter (0.45 Am pore size
manufactured by Micro Filtration Systems) was used for
the filtration of the aqueous phase before metal determi-
nation. Detection of the metals was carried out with flame
atomic absorption spectrophotometer (FAAS) (Perkin Elmer
AA Analyst 700 Model, Flame Atomic Absorption Spec-
trophotometer) connected with deuterium background cor-
rection, hollow cathode lamps (HCl) and acetylene burner.
The absorption measurements of the metals were performed
under the conditions recommended by the manufacturer.
Unless otherwise stated, all chemicals used were of
analytical reagent grade. Triply distilled water was used
throughout the experiments. To carry out experiments, the
final concentrations of metal standard solutions were freshly
made by diluting the stock standard solution with water.
2.3. Statistical analysis
Analytical results have been evaluated by using MINI-
TAB computer program. The standard error values of the
means were calculated to compare the site categories. To
determine the significance of washing of the leaves, a
paired t-test was performed, comparing heavy metal
contents of washed and unwashed plants, for each type of
site. F-test (ANOVA) has been performed to compare
different localities.
Table1
Heavymetal
concentrations(Agg�1dry
weight)andstatisticalevaluationin
leaves
ofR.pseudo-acaciacollectedfrom
d
Site
NFe
Pb
Zn
Unwashed
Unwashed
Unwashed
Unwashed
Unwashed
T-test
Unwashed
Washed
Industry
13
3087.0F70.4
89.91F5,88
206.2F17.2
206.2F17.2
206.2F17.2
***
89.91F5,88
43.49F2,03
Urban roadside
15
414.4F11.2
139.0F11.4
72.69F4.05
72.69F4.05
72.69F4.05
***
139.0F11.4
53.05F7.44
Suburban
8255.01F3.76
33.20F2.30
21.84F1.34
21.84F1.34
21.84F1.34
***
33.20F2.30
21.01F2.16
Control
4100.2F11.4
13.02F0.11
15.11F0.11
15.11F0.11
15.11F0.11
*13.02F0.11
11.53F0.34
Ftest
***
***
***
***
***
***
***
*pb0.05.
***
pb0.001.
3. Results and discussion
The mean heavy metal concentrations measured in
unwashed and washed leaves and soils are shown in Tables
1 and 2. As it can be seen from these tables, all the elements
were found to be at high levels in samples collected from
industrial sites, except for lead and copper which were
found at high levels in samples collected from urban
roadsides that associated with the road traffics.
Iron was found to be at high levels in all samples from all
localities, and higher (3087) at industrial sites and lowest
(100.2) at rural areas. The concentrations of iron were also
higher in soil specimens than leaf samples (Tables 1 and 2).
As an essential element, iron was used by special enzyme
and proteins in respiration and photosynthesis reactions.
Iron was also reported as the acceleration factor in photo-
synthesis associated with accumulation of iron in chlor-
oplasts (Kim and Jung, 1993). Iron is one of the principal
elements in the Earth crust. The high values of iron detected
in this study may be partly due to the absorption from soil
by the roots of plants. Increased levels of contaminated
leaves compared to controls may be related to contami-
nation of environment with iron.
Manganese levels were also higher in sand samples than
plants as expected. Manganese minerals are widely dis-
tributed; oxides, silicates, and carbonates are the most
common. Pyrolusite and rhodochrosite are among the most
Table 2
Heavy metal concentrations (Ag g�1 dry weight) and statistical evaluation in soils collected from different sites of Denizli
Site N Fe Pb Zn Cu Cd Mn
Industry 13 3939.3F65.8 180.85F1.81 456.88F25.90 54.306F4.50 7.367F2.81 786.47F42.81
Urban roadside 15 3554.5F29.5 336.55F25.75 506.43F19.99 69.71F1.23 4.286F0.40 428.46F18.40
Suburban 18 2892.7F6.6 74.86F4.18 81.23F9.12 17.189F0.95 1.373F0.19 337.36F3.29
Control 4 2695.6F3.1 34.26F0.40 10.67F0.95 8.68F0.05 0.48F0.02 271.87F2.22
F test *** *** *** *** *** ***
*** pb0.001.
A. Celik et al. / Environment International 31 (2005) 105–112 109
common manganese minerals. The discovery of large
quantities of manganese nodules on the floor of the oceans
and rivers may become a source of manganese. The dioxide
(pyrolusite) is used as a depolarizer in dry cells, and is used
to bdecolorizeQ glass that is colored green by impurities of
iron. Manganese by itself colors glass an amethyst color,
and is responsible for the color of true amethyst. The
permanganate is a powerful oxidizing agent and is used in
quantitative analysis and in medicine (Allen, 1989). Iron
and manganese oxides play an important role in the soil in
fixing trace elements such as cobalt, copper, zinc, and nickel
as well as pollutants like lead (Norrish, 1975). The
association of these elements with manganese and iron in
soils has important implications for agriculture and plant
growth in general. Manganese is present in the NAD malic
enzyme systems found in the leaves of C4 plants. It is also
specific constituent of the photosynthetic oxygen-evolving
system in chloroplasts (Kim and Jung, 1993). The toxicity
of Mn is commonly associated with acidic soils and warm
climates. Water-soluble soil Mn appears to be better guide to
the likely occurrence of toxicity than the amounts of
exchangeable or reducible Mn, but actual values appear to
be applicable only to local circumstances. The highest levels
were recorded at industrial sites followed by urban road
sides and suburban sites.
Lead is available to plants from soil and aerosol sources.
Lead is taken up only in small measure by plant roots at the
tested areas because of the prevailing nature of the soil. The
chemical form of lead as it impacts plants is of critical
importance, however, as this is a factor in movements in to
plants, in translocation and in the toxic effectiveness of lead
within the plant. Lead pollution on a local scale is caused by
industrial emissions, and on a larger scale is caused by
emissions from motor vehicles using leaded gasoline
(Koeppe, 1981). Normal concentrations of Pb in plants are
less than 10 ppm (Kabata-Pendias and Piotrowska, 1984).
Allen (1989) considered a much lower value of 3 ppm as a
normal natural level for plants. Kabata-Pendias and Pio-
trowska (1984) considered a much lower value of 30 ppm as
an excessive or toxic level of this element. A level of 43
ppm is the threshold value indicating death of trees. Lead
contamination of plant parts underneath the ground is
caused by ingrown contaminated soil particles. Plant parts
near to the ground can be contaminated by sprayed or
rearranged soil. Lead levels exceeding index values were
primarily determined for plant parts underground. We have
not measured the lead from underground samples but our
samples were from direct vicinity of commercial emitters or
by main traffic corridors. The degree of heavy metal
concentration in the leaves is proportional to urbanization.
The main reason of high concentrations of heavy metals in
plants localized in industrial areas and in urban roadsides are
the industrial activity and the density of the traffic.
Exhausting of lead from cars is considered as one of the
major sources of contamination with Pb in Turkey. Because
unleaded petrol is expensive, drivers are forced to use the
leaded one. Additionally, some old version of the car
consumes only leaded petrol. Our values were between 11.5
and 53.0 in plant leaves; 34.2 and 336.5 in soil samples. The
highest concentrations of Pb in plants were taken from
urban roadsides.
Zinc is an essential element in all organisms and plays an
important role in the biosynthesis of enzymes, auxins and
some proteins. Plant with symptoms of Zn deficiency
experiences a retarded elongation of cells (Raven and
Johnson, 1986). Zinc is not one of the more abundant
metals in nature with an average concentration in the
lithosphere of about 80 ppm. Soil levels usually fall in the
range 10–300 ppm. Zinc was the second highest levels (min.
10, max. 206) in all specimens after the iron in our study.
The high levels of zinc in plants may cause the loss of
production and the low levels may cause deformations of
leaves (Bucher and Schenk, 2000).
Copper is a minor trace metal with 70% of the copper in
leaves contained in the chloroplast of land plants (Wilkin-
son, 1994). Plastocyanin contains copper and is an
important transporter (Govindjee, 1995). It has been
suggested that photosynthetic function is highly sensitive
to copper toxicity (Ouzounidou, 1994). Copper, similar to
Zn, is a microelement essential for all organisms and is an
important constituent of many enzymes of oxidation–
reduction reactions (Raven and Johnson, 1986). Disturban-
ces in Cu supply can cause significant modification of
biochemical processes in plants leading to lower yields and
quality of agricultural crops. An excessive supply of Cu
causes symptoms of chlorosis that are similar to the
symptoms of iron deficiency (Bergman, 1983). Kabata-
Pendias and Piotrowska (1984) reported the normal con-
centration of Cu in plants ranges from 2 to 20 ppm, and the
levels of 30 ppm as a phytotoxic level for this element. The
highest (20.81) concentrations of copper were found in
specimens collected from urban roadsides, and lowest (5.64)
A. Celik et al. / Environment International 31 (2005) 105–112110
at control sites which were at normal levels at other sites but
approaching at risky levels at urban roadsides.
Cadmium is an especially mobile element in the soil and
is taken up by plants primarily through the roots. Decisive
for transfer into plants are cadmium levels, pH values, and
humus levels. These parameters determine cadmium levels
in the soil solution and thereby the plants’ availability to
cadmium (Fahrenhors and Kornhardt, 1990). The cadmium
levels in this study were found high (up to 7.4) in soils and
low (up to 1.9) in leaves.
A comparison of the amount of metal extracted from
unwashed leaves with that from washed leaves shows that
removal of the metals from the leaves by washing was
significantly different; for example, 14.85–48.58% of the Fe
was removed by the washing procedure, depending on the
pollutant level at the sampling sites. There was substantial
aerial deposition on the leaves of all six elements, which
were removed by washing. Aksoy and Xahin (1999)
investigated Elaeagnus angustifolia as a biomonitor of
heavy metal pollutions in Kayseri, Turkey. They reported
that correlations between various elements in washed leaves
and soils were highly variable. As it can be seen from Table
1, the metal concentrations from washed and unwashed
leaves were found to be significantly different. By washing
the leaves, approximately 50% of the metals were removed.
Therefore, we suggest to consume any food and vegetables
from urban roadsides should be washed carefully before
sales and consumption.
Pollution of environment with lead is directly related
with the density of traffic and the distance of this environ-
ment from the roadside (Aksoy and Ozturk, 1997; Aksoy et
al., 2000a). Sawidis et al. (1995) studied air pollution with
heavy metals in the city of Thessaloniki (Greece) using trees
as biological indicators and reported that high levels of
heavy metals came from vehicular emissions. Schafer et al.
(1998) reported the heavy metal content in the different
plants and showed that high levels of Pb and Cu came from
vehicular emissions. In addition to traffic density, industrial
activity also tends to increase the concentration of metallic
contaminants. This is evident in the concentration of heavy
metals in the unwashed leaves of R. pseudo-acacia sampled
from industrial areas having the metal contents of 3087.0,
206.2, 89.91, 16.92, 3.70, and 349.2 for Fe, Zn, Pb, Cu, Cd,
and Mn, respectively.
Bioaccumulation of substances, including heavy metals,
has been reported by a number of workers. Pyatt (1999)
reported the heavy metal concentrations in the soil as
FeNMnNZnNCu, while these concentrations in the pine
needles as FeNMn/ZnNCu. In the contaminated site, Mn,
Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ag, and Sn were bioaccumulated by the
needles, while Au was bioaccumulated by the stems; Cu and
Zn were bioaccumulated by both stems and needles of the
Corsican pines and the tissue copper values were markedly
enhanced in material collected from the contaminated site
where a 20-fold increase occurred in the stem samples and a
180-fold increase in the samples of the needles. Pyatt (2001)
reported also in another study about the heavy metal
concentrations in another acacia tree (A. retinoides) from
Cyprus as the control leaves holding the order of
FeNMnNCu/Pb but these values in spoil sites were
FeNPbNMnNCu. These plants were found to act as effective
bioaccumulators of heavy metals (Pyatt, 1999, 2001). Our
results measured from acacia leaves were presented in Table
1. Our results were in accordance of Pyatt (2001) were in
the order of FeNMnNZnNPbNCuNCd. These elements were
found to be at high levels in industrial sites except for Pb
and Cu where the highest concentrations were found at
urban roadsides.
These metal concentrations were also investigated in the
soils and plants. Geochemical mapping of soils and some
plants has been carried out by Bowell and Ansah (1994) in
Ghana where it was noted that the distribution of this
essential nutrients Co, Cu, and Mn was largely controlled by
bedrock geology, while the geochemical dispersion of Ca, I,
Fe, Mo, Mg, P, K, Se, Na, and Zn was affected by soil and
hydromorphic processes. They noted that Fe, Mn, and Co
were largely fixed in the soil mineral fraction, Co, Cu, and
Mn were preferentially concentrated in grasses, and Mo and
Se were concentrated in browse plants. Cu uptake was
found to be antagonistic to Fe, Mo, and Zn accumulation in
all the plants they sampled. Jonnalagadda and Nenzou
(1997) investigated the spoil tips of eastern Zimbabwe and
recorded enhanced concentrations of arsenic in the leaves of
A. hybridus. Our results from soil samples were presented in
Table 2. As it can be seen from this table, the concentration
order of the metals measured were in order of FeNMnNZnN
PbNCuNCd.
Information is required on the precise limits of tolerance
of plants. The role of chronic sublethal doses of contami-
nation in bringing about facultative adaptations in plants
requires research. The concentrations of metals added to
ecosystems that bring about the changes in addition via air
pollution or waste disposal is to be made. In contaminated
forests, older leaves and fallen leaves contain some of the
highest concentrations of metals, particularly Pb, Zn, and
Cd, of the entire biomass. The concentrations of metals in
fallen leaves can increase over time in the forest floor as
metal ions exchange onto the cation exchange sites of the
decaying litter such as road sites.
A growing international awareness of inherited problems
of metal contamination in soils from mine wastes or
industrial derelict sites has led to compilation in many
countries of registers of contaminated land. In less
urbanized areas, the mean levels of heavy metals in the
leaves of R. pseudo-acacia detected significantly lower than
that of those localized in urban areas. The results obtained in
this study indicate that the leaves of R. pseudo-acacia can
accumulate high levels of heavy metals as this species of
plant were used as bioindicator in central part of the Turkey
(Aksoy et al., 2000a). The samples obtained from an
industrial area as well as from urban roadsides, which
encounter the highest human activity and vehicular density,
A. Celik et al. / Environment International 31 (2005) 105–112 111
had the highest accumulation of the heavy metal concen-
trations. Most of this contamination can clearly be traced
back to motor vehicle traffic emissions, because lead
concentrations deter were low. This distribution mined in
these soils also correlated with the gradients of heavy metal
deposits conducted by Abraham et al. (1987). The narrow
radius of effects of the motor vehicle traffic emissions were
confirmed by other investigations (Hoffmann et al., 1989).
The results of Aksoy et al. (2000a) related to lead
concentrations were relatively low in Kayseri (another city
in central part of Turkey) due to having less traffic density
compare to Denizli. This study demonstrates industry is the
main cause of heavy metal pollution is in the region of
Denizli with exception of Pb contamination. The reason for
the highest Pb concentration found on urban roadside, is the
leaded petrol consumption of cars. Not only is R. pseudo-
acacia a very common tree in the area, it is also suitable as
usage in environmental studies as a favorable bioindicator.
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