Biological Monitoring of Heavy Metal Pollution: Land and Air

486 Pages·1982·11.768 MB·English

by  M. H. Martin, P. J. Coughtrey (auth.)

BIOLOGICAL MONITORING OF
HEAVY METAL POLLUTION
Land and Air
POLLUTION MONITORING SERIES
Advisory Editor: Professor Kenneth Mellanby
Monks Wood Experimental Station,
Abbots Ripton, Huntingdon
Previous titles include
Quantitative Aquatic Biological Indicators
by DAVID 1. H. PHILLIPS
Biomonitoring Air Pollutants with Plants
by WILLIAM 1. MANNING and WILLIAM A. FEDER
Effect of Heavy Metal Pollution on Plants
Volume I-Effects of Trace Metals on Plant Function
Volume 2-Metals in the Environment
Edited by N. W.LEPP
BIOLOGICAL MONITORING OF
HEAVY METAL POLLUTION
Land and Air
M. H. MARTIN
Department of Botany, University of Bristol, Woodland Road,
Clifton, Bristol BS8 lUG, UK
and
P. 1. COUGHTREY
Associated Nuclear Services, 123 High Street,
Epsom, Surrey KT 19 8EB, UK
APPLIED SCIENCE PUBLISHERS
LONDON and NEW YORK
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Ripple Road, Barking, Essex, England
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ELSEVIER SCIENCE PUBLISHING CO.,me.,
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Brilish Library Cataloguing in Publication Dall
Martin, M.H.
Biological monitoring of heavy metal pollution:
land and air.- (Pollution monitoring series)
1. Heavy metals-Toxicology
I. Title [I. Coughtrey, P.J. [II. Series
615.9'25'3 RAI23I.M52
I SBN-13:978-94-009-7354-1 e-ISBN-I 3:978-94-009-7 352-7
DOl: 10.1007/978-94-009-7352-7
WITH 13 TABLES AND 103 ILLUSTRATIONS
© APPLIED SCIENCE PUBLISHERS LTD 1982
Softco\"Cr rcprint of the hardco"cr 1ste dition 1982
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, me<:hanica~ photocopying,
recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner,
Applied Science Publishers Ltd, Ripple Road. Barking, Essex, England
PhOlOS<1 in M.I,. by In'.'p<inl Lim~ed
Acknowledgements
In preparing this book we have drawn heavily upon the experiences of
many past and present colleagues as well as on our own more limited
studies. Many of these studies would not have been possible without the
extensive financial assistance of the Natural Environment Research
Council to whom we are greatly indebted. Numerous colleagues have
supplied us with ideas, data, encouragement and criticism. Where pos
sible we have acknowledged them in the text, but particular gratitude is
extended to Dr P. Little on whose published and unpublished data and
discussion several sections of this book are based. Without his help we
would not have been able to complete Chapter 6 to our satisfaction.
Analysis of biological samples for heavy metals on a routine scale is a
time consuming process requiring particular skills, and we would like to
thank our past and present technicians for their enthusiasm.
For many reasons the preparation of this book has taken much longer
than we had originally planned. That it has come to fruition is due to the
help and encouragement of many people. First and foremost we would
like to thank our publisher for bearing with us while we delayed from
putting pen to paper and one of us moved and married. Without the
encouragement and perseverance of wives and families and their patience
this book might have taken even longer to be completed. We would like
to thank them for bearing with us, especially Joy who also dutifully
typed and checked a large proportion of the manuscript. Her job was
made less exhausting because of the kindness of senior staff at ANS in
allowing us access to word-processing equipment.
y
PrEface
In the past two decades there has been an increasing public awareness of
the hazards that exist from the contamination of the environment by
toxic substances. 'Heavy metals' and the terrestrial environment are but
one facet of the impact of toxic substances on the natural environment,
and the use of biological materials for indicating the occurrence of, and
continually monitoring the presence of, these materials is a specific topic
which is of considerable interest to a diverse range of individuals,
organisations and disciplines. It was our intention when we first en
visaged this book that it should contain a description of a range of
circumstances in which biological monitoring techniques have been
employed in the terrestrial environment and that it should be seen as a
practical text which dealt with the merits, shortcomings and suitability of
biological monitoring materials. Monitoring is, however, a manifold
process. It serves not only to provide information on past and present
concentrations of toxic materials in various components of the environ
ment, but also to provide information on the processes of environmental
release, transport, accumulation and toxicity. Indeed, this may be one of
the greatest virtues of biological monitoring over other forms of monitor
ing. According to the skill of the staff employed in the monitoring
procedure, the information that is accrued can have a vastly different
value. The monitoring process should thus be set against the background
of knowledge that exists for the toxic material of interest as well as
against the background and expertise of the individual or organisation
involved. In the preparation of this book we have been diverted by the
consideration of how much background information and expertise
should be expected of the personnel who might employ biological
techniques. There would, in our view, be little virtue at the present time
in providing yet another book on the subject of heavy metals in the
Vll
Vlll Preface
environment, pollution or monitoring. Rather, we have tried to integrate
these topics so that biological monitoring can be seen in its own light;
that is as an extension of knowledge of the effects of heavy metals in the
environment and as a technique which, if applied in a sensible manner,
can provide not only a series of routine data concerning metal con
centrations, but also valuable data concerning environmental impact and
effects. In deviating from our initial intentions we realise that while
providing what may be new and interesting information for one reader,
we may also be providing repetitive or redundant information for
another. We do not apologise for this, but hope that both readers may
obtain some practical hints for the usefulness and applicability of
biological monitoring techniques. There is no doubt that these tech
niques have both scientific and commercial value, the extent of which is
waiting to be explored.
M. H. MARTIN
P. J. COUGHTREY
Contents
Acknowledgements v
Preface Vll
1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Definition and Use of the Term Heavy Metal 1
1.2 Sources of Heavy Metals in the Environment 3
1.3 Biological Indicators and Monitors 22
1.4 Philosophy of Monitoring 27
1.5 Why Biological? 29
1.6 Criteria for Selecting Good Biological Monitoring
Materials /Species 32
1.7 Concluding Remarks 32
2 BIOLOGICAL INDICATORS OF NATURAL ORE-BODIES: GEOBOTAN
ICAL AND BIOGEOCHEMICAL PROSPECTING FOR HEAVY METAL
DEPOSITS . 34
2.1 Introduction. 34
2.2 Geobotanical Prospecting. 35
2.3 Biogeochemical Prospecting 44
2.4 Use of Herbaria in Geobotanical and Biogeochemical
Prospecting 55
2.5 Conclusions 57
3 THE USE OF VEGETATION FOR MONITORING AIRBORNE HEAVY
METAL DEPOSITION 60
3A Background and Practical Considerations . 60
3A.1 Introduction . 60
IX
x Contents
3A.2 Particulate Transfer to Vegetation 60
3A.3 Vegetation as a Monitoring Agent 83
3A.4 Aerial Versus Soil Origins of Metals in Plant Samples 84
3A.5 Exposure Periods 91
3A.6 Use of Leaves. 93
3A.7 Surface Characteristics of Vegetation, Especially
Leaves 96
3B Examples of the Use of Vegetation Monitoring Surveys
for Aerial Deposition of Metals 98
3B.1 Roadside Locations. 99
3B.2 Smelters and Other Point Sources 105
3B.3 General Industrial or Urban Areas with Diffuse or
Unidentified Sources 115
3B.4 Use of Tree Bark 115
3B.5 Use of Epiphytic Vascular Plants, Mosses, Lichens,
Micro-organisms and Fungi 121
3B.6 Specific Use of Vegetation for Assessing Potential
Hazards to Human and Domestic Animal Health 143
4 PLANTS AS MONITORS OF SOIL CONTAMINATION 151
4.1 Introduction 151
4.2 Metal Distribution in Soils 152
4.3 Characteristics of Metal Uptake by Roots. 170
4.4 Metal Tolerance and its Relevance to the Use of
Higher Plants as Monitors of Soil Contamination 206
4.5 Interpretation of Monitoring Results, Conclusions and
Recommendations 216
5 THE USE OF TERRESTRIAL ANIMALS AS MONITORS AND
INDICATORS OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINATION BY HEAVY
METALS 221
5.1 Introduction 221
5.2 Invertebrates as Monitors and Indicators 221
5.3 Other Animals as Monitors 271
5.4 Conclusions 306
6 THE USE OF IMPORTED BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS AS MONITORING
AGENTS 311
6.1 Introduction 311