Scientists' Contributions

Biomonitoring in the UK. (Slide presentation)

J.N.B Bell

Imperial College, London, UK

    Until very recently little interest has been shown by regulatory authorities in the UK into the use of plants as biomonitors of air pollution. This is in stark contrast to the situation regarding aquatic pollution, where there is a long history of the development and use of biotic indices for monitoring freshwaters quality. However, there has been much research in the UK into the use of plants as biomonitors of air pollution, including many ad hoc, as opposed to ongoing routine, surveys. In this lecture an overview of the history of biomonitoring in the UK will be presented. This will include the use of mosses and moss bags for monitoring heavy metals, Bel-W3 tobacco for O₃, and lichen surveys. Recent research at Imperial College will be described concerned with two plant fungal pathogens, which are appropriate for monitoring SO₂ and, in one case, possibly NO_x.