The study was carried out with an aim to assess
the heavy metal (HM) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the air of a biodiversity as well as tourist-rich area of Western Ghats by applying a most frequent
growing lichen
Remototrachyna awasthii
(Hale and
Patw.) Divakar and A. Crespo, as biomonitor. Thalli of
R. awasthii
were collected from eight sites of Mahabaleshwar
area located in Western Ghats. Samples were prepared for
HM and PAHs quantification by ICP-MS and HPLC,
respectively. Total metal concentration (HM) ranged from
644 to 2,277.5 μg g
-1
while PAHs concentration between
0.193 and 54.78 μg g
-1. HM and PAHs concentrations
were the highest at Bus Stand while control site (Lingmala
Fall) exhibited the lowest concentration of HM as well as
PAHs followed by samples from Wilson point (both these
sites are having trekking route). It was also evident from
this study that vehicular emission played a significant role
in the release of HM and PAHs as pollutants in the environment. The effectiveness of
R. awasthii
as biomonitor
could be further investigated by comparing this species
with other biomonitors.