To study and reduce the effects of air
pollution on human health, selection of sensitive and
tolerant plant species as bio-indicators is necessary for
green belt development. The Air Pollution Tolerance
Index (APTI) is a crucial instrument for separating out
plants depending on how sensitive or tolerant they are to
various air pollutants. In this study a set of seven most
common plant species (Mangifera Indica, Saraca Asoca,
Cassia Fistula, Syzygium Cumini, Amarnthus Viridus,
Malva Neglecta, and Datura Inoxia) were examined at
each of two different locations: residential site and
industrial site. Plants were selected with increasing
distance of 50-100m, 250-300m, 500-600m at each
location from the pollution source making it a broader
study with a set of 21 test points at each location: 42 test
points in total for both locations. The present study
suggested that the Cassia. Fistula (Average APTI =
16.32) and Mangifera Indica (Average APTI = 15.75) are
the most tolerant species and as remedial measures and
for green belt designing, these plants could be cultivated
near pollution sources due to their high level of tolerance
towards environmental pollutants. The Datura Inoxia
and Amarnthus Viridus were found the most sensitive
species with Average APTI of 10.87 and 10.63
respectively and can be used as bio indicators for the
pollution indicator at these sites. In addition, the study
found that the average dust deposition was higher in the
industrial site (4.25mg/cm2
) than in the residential site
(1.92mg/cm2
), indicating the adverse consequence on the
health of workers in boiler industry locations. The dust
deposition was also recorded increasing with the
decreasing distance from the source of pollution at
industrial site (50-100m = 4.25mg/cm2
) > (500-600m =
3.65mg/cm2
) which highlights the urgent need for
effective planetary management to mitigate the impact
of air pollution on human health.
Keywords :
Component; Air Pollution Tolerance Index (APTI), Bio-Indicator, Dust Deposition (DD), Relative Water Content (RWC), Total Chlorophyll Concentration (Chl), Ascorbic Acid Content (ACC), Ph of Leaf Extract (pH)
