Effects of airborne fluoride on soil and vegetation

The study was initiated by the sudden uncontrolled release of airborne fluorides in 2005 into the environment from aluminium smelter factory that caused damage of vegetation. Samples of corn leaves and corn male flower heads with visible symptoms of fluoride intoxication had been collected in autumn 2005. Increased contents of total fluoride, which exceeded the maximum allowable content of fluorine in feeding stuffs, including meadow grass, were detected. During continuation of the study some commercially available herbal teas and plants used for preparing herbal teas infusions, collected in the field in 2010, were investigated to investigate possible uptake of fluoride from the soil. Nettle (Urtica dioica) has been found to be a promising passive bioindicator for monitoring phytotoxic effects of fluoride in the soil on the vegetation. Good correlation between labile free fluoride in the soil and total fluoride in the nettle has been found, while total fluoride in the soil, soil pH and the dominant wind direction were also proven as important factors influencing the uptake of fluoride by the nettle.