Elemental composition evaluation in lichens collected in the industrial city of Sa ˜o Mateus Sul, Parana ´, Brazil A. B. Ferreira • M. Saiki • J. O. Santos • A. P. Ribeiro • P. H. N. Saldiva Received: 27 May 2011 / Published online: 17 June 2011 Ó Akade ´miai Kiado ´, Budapest, Hungary 2011 Abstract In this study, Canoparmelia texana lichenized fungi species was used as a passive biomonitor of the atmospheric pollution from the industrial city of Sa ˜o Mateus do Sul, PR, Brazil. Lichen samples collected from tree barks were cleaned, freeze-dried and analyzed by neutron activation analysis. Comparisons were made between the element concentrations obtained in lichens from this city and that from a clean area of Atlantic Forest in Intervales Park, SP. The high concentrations of elements As, Ca, Co, Cr, Fe, Hf, Sb, and Th found in lichens could be attributed to the emissions from a ceramic and an oil shale plants. Keywords Atmospheric pollution Á Lichen Á Biomonitoring Á Neutron activation analysis Introduction Risks to human health caused by air pollution has been increasing due to industrial development, expanding agri- cultural production and growing global population. Thus the growing concern about current and future levels of environmental pollution has led to an increased demand for experimental methods to study the environment. The control of atmospheric pollution is normally based on determinations of principal pollutants with conventional automatic recording equipment. However, the high cost of this automatic recording apparatus and its maintenance limit the number of sampling sites, even in relatively small urban areas. On the other hand, biomonitoring is known as an easy, inexpensive and indirect method of determining pollutants and their distributions over large areas. Among several organisms that have been studied for air pollution monitoring, lichens are useful bioindicators since they accumulate heavy metals, pollutant gases and radio- nuclides to a greater degree than higher plants. Literature related to biomonitoring shows that lichens can be applied to monitor local depositions around various points and areas of different emission sources in several countries [1– 11]. However, in Brazil, lichen analysis data for biomon- itoring pollutant emissions are very scarce. Within this context, the aim of this study was to investigate the use of lichen as biomonitor of emissions in Sa ˜o Mateus do Sul city where an oil shale and ceramic plants are operating. This study is of the great interest since it can assist decision makers in aerial pollution control of this city. Sa ˜o Mateus do Sul is a municipality located at latitude 25° 52 0 26 00 South and longitude 50° 22 0 58 00 West, with an altitude of 835 m located in the state of Parana ´ in the Southern region of Brazil and occupies an area of A. B. Ferreira Á M. Saiki (&) Instituto de Pesquisas Energe ´ticas e Nucleares, IPEN-CNEN/SP, Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes, 2242, Sa ˜o Paulo, SP 05508-000, Brazil e-mail: mitiko@ipen.br A. B. Ferreira Á P. H. N. Saldiva Departamento de Patologia, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Sa ˜o Paulo, Av. Dr Arnaldo, 455, Sa ˜o Paulo, SP 0146-903, Brazil J. O. Santos Centro Federal de Educac ¸a ˜o Tecnolo ´gica de Sergipe, Av. Engenheiro Gentil Tavares da Mota, 1166, Aracaju, SE 49055-260, Brazil A. P. Ribeiro Instituto Oceanogra ´fico da Universidade de Sa ˜o Paulo (IO-USP), Prac ¸a do Oceanogra ´fico, 191, Sa ˜o Paulo, SP 05508-120, Brazil 123 J Radioanal Nucl Chem (2012) 291:71–76 DOI 10.1007/s10967-011-1237-1