Heavy Metal Contamination of Tree Leaves

Abstract The study of heavy metal (HMs) contamination of environment is of great interest due to their serious health hazard. In this work, the contamination of tree leaves with the HMs in the most polluted industrial city, Korba, India is described. The leaves of common trees i.e. Azadirachta indica, Butea monosperma, Eucalyptus, Ficus religiosa, Mangifera indica and Tectona grandis were selected for assessment of the HMs contamination as bioindicator. The elevated concentration of HMs (i.e. As, Fe, Cr, Mn, Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb and Hg) in the tree leaves was observed, ranging from 2.8 – 43, 728 – 5182, 8.6 – 49, 48 – 1196, 43 – 406, 79 – 360, 1.12 – 1.65, 1.6 – 16.4 and 0.13 – 0.76 mg/kg, respectively. The concentration, enrichment and sources of the HMs in the leaves are described. Azadirachta indica leaves, accumulating higher concentration of the HMs, showed a higher efficiency as bioindicator for the urban pollution. Keywords Heavy Metal, Soil, Tree Leaf, Bioindicator, India