%0 Journal Article
%T Using <i>Tillandsia recurvate</i> (Ball Moss) as a Biological Indicator to Monitor Air Pollution and Retain Oil Pollution
%A Caitlyn Rogers
%A Edward Bush
%J Open Journal of Air Pollution
%P 62-69
%@ 2169-2661
%D 2022
%I Scientific Research Publishing
%R 10.4236/ojap.2022.113005
%X Air pollution is defined as the presence of a substance in the atmosphere
that is harmful to human health, living things,</span></span><span><span><span style=\"font-family:&quot;\"> </span></span></span><span><span><span style=\"font-family:&quot;\">and/or has
a negative impact on the environment.</span></span></span><span><span><span style=\"font-family:&quot;\"> </span></span></span><span><span><span style=\"font-family:&quot;\">A plant
such as <i>Tillandsi</i><i>a</i> <i>recurvata</i>,
ball moss, could be used as an inexpensive biological indicator for urban pollution.
The purpose of this research was to determine if ball moss could be used as a biological
indicator of urban pollution and retain oil pollution. Multiple sites</span></span></span><span><span><span style=\"font-family:&quot;\"> </span></span></span><span><span><span style=\"font-family:&quot;\">were identified
and grouped by vehicular traffic frequency (counts) using the Louisiana State Department
of Transportation and Development (LaDOTD) traffic data to randomly select five
low (0.0</span></span></span><span><span><span style=\"font-family:&quot;\"> </span></span></span><span><span><span style=\"font-family:&quot;\">-</span></span></span><span><span><span style=\"font-family:&quot;\"> </span></span></span><span><span><span style=\"font-family:&quot;\">7000), and five medium/high frequency (7001 to &gt;14,000) traffic counts</span></span></span><span><span><span style=\"font-family:&quot;\"> </span></span></span><span><span><span style=\"font-family:&quot;\">in locations
within</span></span></span><span><span><span style=\"font-family:&quot;\"> </span></span></span><span><span><span style=\"font-family:&quot;\">Baton Rouge, La. city limits. Differential analysis determined that harvested
ball moss</span></span></span><span><span><span style=\"font-family:&quot;\"> </span></span></span><span><span><span style=\"font-family:&quot;\">tissue levels from areas with low traffic (&lt;0.05 level) contained lower
S concentrations than plants tested from high traffic counts. In a second study,
dried <i>Tillandsia recurvata </i>plant tissue accumulated greater oil weight than
absorbent paper towels. <i>Tillandsia recurvata</i> absorbed and/or retained oil
at a greater ratio of oil than its own mass. Therefore,</span></span></span><span><span><span style=\"font-family:&quot;\"> </span></span></span><span><span><span style=\"font-family:&quot;\">the results
of each experiment indicated that <i>Tillandsia recurvata </i>may successfully function
as a biological indicator
%K Greenhouse Gases
%K Pollution
%K BTEX
%K Air Quality
%K Urban Ecology
%U http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=119811