Environmental magnetic studies of particulates with special reference to biomagnetic monitoring using roadside plant leaves

Vehicle derived pollutants as well as industrial emissions simultaneously release deleterious fine-grained particulates and magnetic particles into the atmosphere These magnetic particles are derived from the presence of iron (as impurities in fuels, industrial emissions, street dust, rock dust etc.), often a mix of strongly magnetic (magnetite-like) and weakly magnetic (haematite-like) iron oxides. Present review discusses the problem of particulate matter (PM) pollution, its environmental geomagnetic studies with special reference to biomagnetic monitoring through roadside plant leaves. Biomagnetic monitoring with the roadside plant leaves, is very recent thrust area in the field of PM pollution science. An overview of the researches on implications of environmental geo-magnetic studies is presented in this paper for sediments, street dust and vegetation. The concept of environmental magnetism as a proxy for atmospheric pollution levels has been reported by several researchers based on analysis of soils and street or roof dust; however, very few researches have emphasized the use of roadside plant leaves in monitoring the dust. Magnetic biomonitoring of pollutants by measurements taken from roadside tree leaves is potentially efficient and cost-effective. Finally, several case studies on biomagnetic monitoring in Indian subcontinent by our group have been mentioned in detail. Nevertheless, there is still paucity of focused research works in the multifaceted environmental dimensions of magnetic monitoring particularly biomagnetic monitoring of particulate pollution with roadside plant leaves which possess the potential to become a new frontier in the field of atmospheric science and technology. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.