216 Int. J. Environment and Health, Vol. 4, Nos. 2/3, 2010 Copyright © 2010 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. Sustainable sampling of native bromeliads for environmental monitoring Camila Elias*, Elisabete A. De Nadai Fernandes, Elvis J. França and Márcio A. Bacchi Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura, Universidade de São Paulo, Piracicaba, P.O. Box 97, 13416-970, Brazil Email: cmlelias@yahoo.com.br Email: lis@cena.usp.br Email: ejfranca@usp.br Email: mabacchi@cena.usp.br *Corresponding author Abstract: By analysing the leaves of bromeliads, the availability of chemical elements in the atmosphere can be assessed. However, sampling steps affect the reliability of using such plants for environmental quality studies. This paper describes a novel and sustainable sampling methodology for conservation units, in which small discs (6 mm diameter) of bromeliad leaves could be taken without removing rosettes. Bromeliad leaf discs were sampled from the top, middle and bottom positions of the rosettes. For comparison, the whole rosettes were also analysed by the k 0 method and Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA). Considering the 11 bromeliad species evaluated, the results of sustainable sampling compared with usual sampling (after milling and sub-sampling) did not demonstrate significant differences at the 95% confidence level for Br, Cs, K, Na, Rb, Sc and Zn. Consequently, sustainable sampling was considered to be reliable at the current level of studies for environmental quality assessment. Keywords: natural areas; background; INAA; instrumental neutron activation analysis; active biomonitoring; passive biomonitoring. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Elias, C., De Nadai Fernandes, E.A., França, E.J. and Bacchi, M.A. (2010) ‘Sustainable sampling of native bromeliads for environmental monitoring’, Int. J. Environment and Health, Vol. 4, Nos. 2/3, pp.216–223. Biographical notes: Camila Elias, MSc, is working on the development of reference materials for agriculture and environment. She developed the sustainable sampling for studying the chemical composition of native bromeliads. Her main interests are bromeliads, epiphytes, conservation units and instrumental neutron activation analysis. Elisabete A. De Nadai Fernandes, MSc, Doctor in Agronomy, is an Associate Professor and Head of the Radioisotopes Laboratory of the Nuclear Energy Center for Agriculture of the University of São Paulo, Piracicaba, Brazil. She is also a Coordinator of The Brazilian Satellite Center of Trace Element Institute for UNESCO and a member of the Inorganic Analytical Working Group (IAWG), Consultative Committee for Amount of Substance (CCQM), Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM), France. She started environmental studies about 30 years ago, aiming at the determination of trace elements by instrumental neutron activation analysis.