EFFECTIVENESS OF OAK LEAVES AS BIOINDICATORS OF ENVIRONMENTAL-POLLUTION

The purpose of this study was to use instrumental neutron activation a nalysis (INAA) to investigate the effectiveness of oak tree leaves as indicators of atmospheric pollution. Leaves were sampled from several different cities in southwestern Ontario, Canada and tested for 16 dif ferent trace elements (U, Dy, Ba, Ti, Sr, I, Br, Mg, Cu, Na, V, K, Al, Mn, Cl and Ca). The results show promise for the use of oak leaves as multielemental environmental monitors due to their apparent ability t o reflect the overall pollution levels of the vicinity in which they g row. Oak leaves were found to be superior to both birch and maple leav es for monitoring most of the elements studied.