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Deposition of Airborne Particulates onto Plant Leaves¹

ABSTRACT

In order to assess potential environmental hazards from foliar absorption of airborne pollutants released in stack effluents from industrial plants, it is necessary to measure deposition characteristics onto plant foliage. This paper describes an exposure chamber which permits highly toxic materials to be delivered to plant leaves under reproducible conditions of wind speed and aerosol concentration. An aerosol of a gold colloid labelled with ¹⁹⁸Au and having an activity median aerodynamic diameter (AMAD) of about 0.8 µm was used in experiments with bean leaves (Phaseolus vulgaris L. var. ‘Tendergreen’) and with inert surfaces. Measurements were made of leaf area, wind speed, and aerosol concentration and particle size distribution. Leaves oriented toward and away from winds of 0.42 cm/second showed similar deposition rates for particles with an AMAD of about 0.8 µm. Deposition velocities for leaves were similar to deposition velocities measured for upward facing inert surfaces which were an order of magnitude greater than downward facing inert surfaces for the aerosols and wind velocities used in these experiments.

Key Words: pollutants • foliage • aerosol

¹ Contribution from the Ecosystems and Biology Departments, Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratories, Richland, WA 99352. This work was performed under USAEC contract AT (45-1)-1830.

² Senior Research Scientist, Terrestrial Ecology, Ecosystems Dep.; and Section Manager, Inhalation Toxicology, Biology Dep., respectively.

Received for publication September 27, 1974.