Species arboreal as a bioindicator of the environmental pollution: Analysis by SR-TXRF

This paper aims to study the environmental pollution in the tree development, in order to evaluate its use as bioindicator in urban and countrysides. The sample collection was carried out in Piracicaba city, São Paulo State, that presents high level of environmental contamination in water, soil and air, due to industrial activities, vehicle combustion, sugar-cane leaves burning in the harvesting, etc. The species Caesalpinia peltophoroides (“Sibipiruna”) was selected because it is often used in urban arborization. Synchrotron radiation X-ray fluorescence technique (SR-TXRF) was employed to identify and quantify the elements and metals of nutritional and toxicological importance in the wood samples. The analysis was performed in the Brazilian Synchrotron Light Source Laboratory, using a white beam for excitation and an Si(Li) detector for X-ray detection. In several samples were quantified P, K, Ca, Ti, Fe, Sr, Ba and Pb elements.