Biomonitoramento da qualidade do ar utilizando ensaio de micronúcleo em Tradescantia sp.

Abstract

Pollution in urban areas have shown high rates due to increase in the number of cars, up industries and other polluting activities that cause harm to all living beings. In an attempt to gain control of air quality, the environmental agency responsible for monitoring air quality in the city of Curitiba, through environmental monitoring stations, issues air quality bulletins. These publications are related with measurements of environmental pollutants in various regions of the city, associated with Air Quality Index, with the framework of the air in three categories: good, fair, inadequate, poor or very poor. These systems can be associated, in order to increase its efficiency, with biomonitoring as a complementary methodology. Biomonitoring i allows evaluate the response of organisms to pollution through low-cost, long periods of exposure and assessment of large areas,. The micronucleus assay with Tradescantia (Trad-MCN) is employed in environmental monitoring of various locations due to the characteristics described above and for its efficiency in detecting chromosomal damage. In the present work was done the biomonitoring of air quality with Tradescantia sp in the Federal Technological University of Parana, Curitiba campus, during March to June 2011. Five flower beds were prepared and homogeneously distributed in three distinct points of campus. In addition, two separate planters remained in a place with supposedlyless atmospheric pollutants, these samples were wrapped in a wooden frame with clear plastic. It was possible to measure the number of micronuclei in 300 tetrads per slide, and the results were expressed as mean of micronuclei by months of exposure. It was shown that the point of exposure a significant increase of micronuclei: Point 1 (13.22 ± 1.93), Point 2 (13 ± 2.76) and Point 3 (13.44 ± 3.17) compared to the control point (2.5 ± 1.93). These results, combined with values of AQI, allowed observing that there are significant differences in air quality between the points of exposure and control place.