Use of vegetable bio indicators to measure pollution in sites with different levels of environmental impact

Vegetable species can indicate the presence of polluting elements -such as heavy metals- in the atmosphere thanks to a process of accumulation related to leaves morphology and to the present concentration of the hosting area. This biomonitorage system can be considered complementary to the traditional chemical-physical ones to determine food quality, in case they are absent or insufficient. These bioindicators analyze the presence of copper, iron, nickel and manganese in agricultural areas exposed to the action of polluting agents by using vegetabies that are largely cultivated and whose foliage show different morphological characteristics and life cycles. The experimentation area is the province of Latina. The plan has been developed as follows: -determination and characterization of the vegetable products from the province of Latin; -setting up of analytical methodologies to determine the residuals quantitatively; -determination of the levels of persistence of the residuals in the vegetable products.