The variation of heavy metal accumulation in some landscape plants due to traffic density

Heavy metals are of particular importance in the air pollution factors. They tend to biodegrade and some have even toxic or carcinogenic effects at low concentrations because Heavy metals do not deteriorate in nature and do not become easy to destroy. It is stated that almost all metals produce toxic effects when taken over a certain amount. Therefore, determining the heavy metal concentration in the air and monitoring its change is extremely important in determining risk regions and risk levels. Bioindicators are the most important indicators of the change in the concentration of heavy metal in the atmosphere. Plants that are used as bioindicators accumulate by taking some of the heavy metals in the soil or air into the body, and it is possible to obtain information about the heavy metal pollution in soil and air by determining the level of accumulation. In this research, it is aimed to determine the change of heavy metal concentrations in some landscaping plants in Kastamonu city center depending on plant species, plant organelles and traffic density. Results of the research; the research showed that the subject elements changed significantly based on species. The highest values of these metals are obtained in ornamental plum (Prunus carasifera) except those of Cu, while Ash tree (Fraxinus excelsior) has low values in all metals. Subject of the research; metal concentrations have a significant difference between species; even this difference was found to be more than five times among the species in the elements such as Cu and Ni. It has been determined that the concentrations of the studied elements vary significantly on organelle basis and most of them depending on the traffic density.