Standards Development

Scope

This European Standard applies to the use of the grass Lolium multiflorum ssp. italicum for the bioaccumulation of substances liable to cause atmospheric pollution. It is an active biomonitoring approach insofar as the plants used are first cultivated in set conditions before being exposed at the monitoring locations in the field. The plants then record any pollution events that occur while they are being exposed, allowing such events to be accurately dated.

The method described in this European Standard can be applied for identification and localisation of one or more single pollution sources and the tracking of their “plume” on a local or regional scale. It also offers a tool to monitor sites in the long term by the repeated application of a clearly defined procedure and to describe the local or regional air pollution situation.

The method applies to solid and gaseous substances deposited on plants, where they may accumulate on their surface or in their tissues. These substances include sulphur, chloride, fluoride and especially metals as well as low volatile organic and halo-organic compounds such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE), polychlorinated dibenzo dioxins (PCDD) and polychlorinated dibenzo furans (PCDF). The range of potential substances may be expanded according to the task at hand and the capabilities of conducting trace analyses and assessment.

The method described in the European Standard allows spatial and temporal comparisons and allows for screening, thus providing a first indication of risk. The results of grass culture studies may suggest risks to biota (e.g. via the food chain) which require further investigation.

The method described in the European Standard does not replace physico-chemical methods of direct measurement or modelling of air pollutants; it complements them by indicating biological effects.

This European Standard is of interest to those involved in environmental monitoring.

Purpose

Air pollution can cause accumulation of substances in plants. The assessment of such accumulation shows deposition-related inputs into ecosystems and may indicate risks for plants, animals and humans. The pollution induced accumulation of substances in plants depends on a multitude of endo- and exogenous factors (e.g. on the species or variety of a plant, its stage of development, on the soil conditions, on nutrient and water supply and climatic conditions). For the identification of pollution induced accumulation and especially for the comparison of pollution effects at different locations it is necessary to reduce the influence of these factors to a minimum. To achieve this, such investigations are limited to certain plant species and the methods applied are standardised as much as possible.

In many cases, grass cultures (Lolium multiflorum) are used as plant accumulation indicators. The method of standardised grass cultures can be applied to detect pollution induced accumulation of inorganic (heavy metals, sulphur, fluoride etc.) and organic substances (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), polychlorinated dibenzo dioxins (PCDD) and polychlorinated dibenzo furanes (PCDF)) in plants. It allows to determine the character and extent of the pollution effects and to assess risks to plants, animals and humans.

Note: in case the WI is based on documents from other organizations than ISO/IEC, please specify it here

This project is based on the following documents from other organizations than ISO/IEC:

VDI 3957 Part 2 “Biological measuring techniques for the determination and evaluation of effects of air pollutants on plants (biomonitoring); Method of the standardised grass exposure”

Publication date: August 2020

AFNOR: NF X43-901. Biomonitoring of air quality - Active biomonitoring of air quality by ray-grass: from crops to sample preparation

Publication date: 2008

Due to their relevance and acceptance as well as the fact that no comparable documents are available as a basis, the national standards mentioned are used for the development of the European Standard.