Heavy metal composition in the Plantago major L. from center of the Murmansk City, Kola Peninsula, Russia

• Main Authors: Miłosz Andrzej Huber, M. Y. Menshakova, S. Chmiel, G. V. Zhigunova, R. Dębicki, О. А. Iakovleva
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: TMKarpinski Publisher, Tomasz M. Karpiński 2018
• Subjects: Plantago major; Pollution; Environment; Geochemistry; Biology (General); QH301-705.5; Kola Peninsula; Murmansk; kola peninsula
• Online Access: https://doaj.org/article/7c44dbf7f208409086bc950c8c3adc3a

Plantago major is an indicator of environmental pollution in the city. The plant grows along the traversed paths, close to the sidewalks. Contaminating substances accumulate on the leaves of the plantain. In the summer of 2016, samples of plants were collected in the central Murmansk region for analysis using a scanning electron microscope to identify dust particles on their surface, and to study leaves using the ICP-MS method to determination of heavy metals content. A relatively serious concentration of lead, zinc, copper, nickel as well as high arsenic and chromium content has been demonstrated in the city center, along with ties with human activities (vehicular traffic). High iron content is associated with peat soils used in the city for fertilization. The remaining metal content is relatively low. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1461064