Indoor air pollution is a critical environmental challenge with negative impacts on human health, especially in urban and enclosed settings. This study aimed to evaluate the tolerance of three indoor ornamental plants—Epipremnum aureum, Sansevieria trifasciata, and Syngonium podophyllum Schott—against pollutants generated by cigarette smoke and kerosene combustion. Plants were exposed under controlled indoor conditions, while particulate matter (PM₁. ₀, PM₂. ₅, PM₁₀), total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs), and carbon dioxide (CO₂) were measured before, during, and after exposure. Plant tolerance was assessed using the Air Pollution Tolerance Index (APTI), calculated from total chlorophyll content, leaf extract pH, ascorbic acid, and relative water content. Both cigarette smoke and kerosene combustion caused significant increases in all measured pollutants (p < 0.001, η2 = 0.588–0.894). Specifically, cigarette smoke increased PM₁.₀ from 71.6 ± 29.5 to 564.5 ± 174.8 μg/m3, PM₂. ₅ from 101.9 ± 53.9 to 788.4 ± 196.9 μg/m3, PM₁₀ from 68.7 ± 14.7 to 498.9 ± 154.4 μg/m3, TVOCs from 79.1 ± 60.6 to 0.53 ± 0.17 mg/m3, and CO₂ from 459.5 ± 88.8 to 1067.1 ± 281.2 ppm. Kerosene combustion increased PM₁.₀ from 70.6 ± 42.2 to 462.0 ± 183.4 μg/m3, PM₂.₅ from 101.7 ± 71.4 to 774.3 ± 249.3 μg/m3, PM₁₀ from 124.4 ± 83.6 to 796.0 ± 290.2 μg/ m3, TVOCs from 77.5 ± 61.9 to 3.0 ± 15.4 mg/m3, and CO₂ from 459.5 ± 88.8 to 1560.8 ± 412.5 ppm. Foliar applications of glycine, yeast extract, and their combination significantly enhanced plant tolerance, with S. podophyllum showing the highest APTI (101.0) and S. trifasciata moderate tolerance (77.6), while E. aureum exhibited lower tolerance (32.6). These findings indicate that selected ornamental plants can effectively mitigate indoor air pollution, whereas sensitive species such as E. aureum may serve as bioindicators for monitoring indoor air quality.
The study aims to select suitable ornamental plant species that can survive relatively with high concentrations of acetaminophen and methylparaben in constructed wetlands. Alternanthera spp, Asparagus aethiopicus and Chlorophytum comosum are examined to withstand three initial concentrations, 20, 100 and 200 mg/L of acetaminophen and methylparaben. A total of 21 plastic pails with each 3 L capacity consisting of nine pails are used for each pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) compounds (acetaminophen and methylparaben) for three ornamental plants (Alternanthera spp, Asparagus aethiopicus and Chlorophytum comosum), with three pails as plant controls. The results reveales
... Show MoreThis study deals with air pollution tolerance index (APTI) and anatomical variation in leaves of two species of terrestrial plants Ficus sp. and Conocarpus sp. that have bee commonly the separated along roadsides in many stations within Babylon province. APTI values of both species were less than 10 during study period which represented sensitivity of these plants to air pollution. There are Anatomical responses to pollution in the leaves of both studied species. Main adaptations included increased thickness of parenchyma cell walls with clear dark deposits in sections of Ficus sp. from sections of stations 2 and 4 which represent polluted stations. Conocarpus sp. main adaptation included stomata increased in density and decreased in size w
... Show MoreAir pollution from various sources is one of the most serious environmental problems, especially after pollutants are deposited on the surface of the soil and leaves of the plants and then transferred to the rest of the plant and entering food chains. The present study was conducted to determine the effects of air pollution on different biochemical parameters in Eucalyptus sp. and calculation the Air Pollution Tolerance Index. The selected plant leaves were collected from five sites, four of them within the city of Baghdad, namely Al-Jadriya, Al-Andlous, Al-Doura and close to the private generators to represent the urban areas and Abu Ghraib site to represent the rural area. The leaves were taken on a seasonal basis for the period from Octo
... Show MoreThis work consists of a numerical simulation to predict the velocity and temperature distributions, and an experimental work to visualize the air flow in a room model. The numerical work is based on non-isothermal, incompressible, three dimensional, k turbulence model, and solved using a computational fluid dynamic (CFD) approach, involving finite volume technique to solve continuity, momentum and energy equations, that governs the room’s turbulent flow domain. The experimental study was performed using (1/5) scaled room model of the actual dimensions of the room to simulate room air flow and visualize the flow pattern using smoke generated from burnt herbs and collected in a smoke generator to delivered through
... Show MoreThis paper describes a newly modified wind turbine ventilator that can achieve highly efficient ventilation. The new modification on the conventional wind turbine ventilator system may be achieved by adding a Savonius wind turbine above the conventional turbine to make it work more efficiently and help spinning faster. Three models of the Savonius wind turbine with 2, 3, and 4 blades' semicircular arcs are proposed to be placed above the conventional turbine of wind ventilator to build a hybrid ventilation turbine. A prototype of room model has been constructed and the hybrid turbine is placed on the head of the room roof. Performance's tests for the hybrid turbine with a different number of blades and different values o
... Show MoreThe inhibitory effect of acetone, ethanol, and aqueous extracts of ten medicinal plants on β-lactamase from Staphylococcus sciuri and Klebsiella pneumoniae was investigated in vitro by starch-iodine agar plate method. The results revealed the success of starch-iodine method for the detection of the inhibition of β-lactamase activity by the various extracts of each individual plant. The acetone extracts of Catharanthus roseus, Eucalyptus camaldulensis, and Schinus terebinthifolius induced an inhibitory effect on β-lactamase from Staphylococcus sciuri. On the other hand, acetone extracts from only Eucalyptus camaldulensis, and Schinus
... Show MoreThis study was designed to monitor the ambient air pollution in several sites within Baghdad City of Iraq. The readings started from May 2016 to April 2017. The highest concentration of sulfur dioxide (SO2) was 2.28 ppmm-3 while nitrogen dioxide (NO2) was 3.68 ppmm-3 and suspended particulate matter was 585.1 ?gm-3. This study also included estimating the value of the air pollution tolerance index (APTI) for four plant's species Olea europaea L., Ziziphus spina-Christi (L.) Desf, Albizia lebbeck(L.) Benth. and Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnh. Were cultivated on the road sides. The study includes four biochemical parameters, total chlorophyll content, ascorbic acid content, pH and relative water content of plant leaves. The results show that
... Show MoreEnhancement of the performance for hybrid solar air conditioning system was presented in this paper. The refrigerant temperature leaving the condenser was controlled using three-way valve, this valve was installed after the compressor to regulate refrigerant flow rate towards the solar system. A control system using data logger, sensors and computer was proposed to set the opening valve ratio. The function of control program using LabVIEW software is to obtain a minimum refrigerant temperature from the condenser outlet to enhance the overall COP of the unit by increasing the degree of subcooled refrigerant. A variable load electrical heater with coiled pipe was used instead of the solar collector and the storage tank to simulate the sola
... Show MoreAir pollution is very important topic for those interested in studying the environment because of its importance and the damage caused by it to human, animal and plant life. This research addresses the concept of air pollution, its causes, and its danger, and sheds light on the influence of climate elements on environmental pollution and the effect of temperature, rain, humidity, wind direction and speed, and atmospheric pressure on the increase or decrease of air pollution. This research discusses the sources of air pollution, including natural ones, including dust, smoke resulting from fires, erupting volcanoes, and others, including those resulting from human uses such as the use of fuel and others. The research addressed the dam
... Show MoreThe current study was conducted to demonstrate the effects of air pollution on different biochemical parameters inCitrus aurantium plant and calculation the Air Pollution Tolerance Index (APTI). Five sites were selected tocollect plant leaves, four of them within the city of Baghdad, namely Al-Jadriya, Al-Andlous, Al-Doura and closeto the private generators to represent the urban areas and Abu Ghraib site to represent the rural area. Seasonalsamples were collected for the period from October 2016 to June 2017. Eleven biochemical parameters totalchlorophyll, ascorbic acid, leaf extract pH, relative water content, total nitrogen, total protein content, total sugarcontent, proline, electrical conductivity, cadmium and lead. The results of Citr
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