Biomonitoration of Areas Producing Ceramic Manufactures in Two Municipalities of the South of Brazil

Abstract

Industrial and urban development, together with population growth, has contributed to the increase of atmospheric pollution, and causes the air of urban centers to present more and more substances that are harmful to living beings. In southern Santa Catarina, Morro da Fumaça and Sangão are the highlights in the production of red ceramics (bricks and tiles), these industries use combustion processes for the manufacture of their product and releases air pollutants.The exposure period of the organism was from June to October 2015, at Points A and B in Morro da Fumaça and C, D and E in Sangão. Collections of the young inflorescences of the exposed plants were carried out weekly. After collection, inflorescences were fixed in ethanol / glacial acetic acid solution (3: 1) for 24 hours, transferred to 70% ethanol solution and stored under refrigeration. These were submitted to staining with acetic carmine and the number of micronuclei in 300 tetrads was quantified for each inflorescence, and blades with 5 inflorescences / week were made for each point studied. The results were expressed as mean ± standard deviation and median and range. In the present study it can be verified that the bioindicator Tradescantia pallida shows to be a highly sensitive plant and an excellent test organism, considered an essential tool in the biomonitoring of polluted environments. The results show that in the month of August, the frequency of micronuclei was significantly higher in the plants of the sampling points.