ORIGINAL PAPER Magneto-biomonitoring of intra-urban spatial variations of particulate matter using tree leaves Ann L. Power Æ Ann T. Worsley Æ Colin Booth Received: 6 March 2008 / Accepted: 4 July 2008 / Published online: 21 November 2008 Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2008 Abstract Preliminary mineral magnetic results from a pilot project investigating the suitability of roadside tree leaves as depositories of vehicular pollution are presented. Tree leaf surfaces (Lime: Tilia europaea; Sycamore: Acer pseudoplatanus) at four roadside and one woodland location in Wolver- hampton, UK, have been monitored (July 2003 to November 2003). Mineral magnetic technologies have revealed spatial variations of particulate pollu- tion concentration throughout the conurbation and data analysis indicates that magnetic concentration parameters are suitable proxies for fine particulate pollution, which are particularly hazardous to health. Site-specific traffic management and associated vehi- cle behaviour appear to be chiefly responsible for the magnetic concentration differences between sites. Magneto-biomonitoring in this way allows the high- resolution spatial mapping of particulate matter (PM) pollution, which may also benefit epidemiology in better assessing exposure to vehicular-derived particulates. Given the speed, measurement sensitiv- ity and non-destructive nature of the technique, it is proposed that this low-cost approach offers some advantages over centralised monitoring stations to monitor urban roadside particulate pollution. Keywords Atmospheric particulate pollution Á Mineral magnetism Á Tree leaves Introduction Associations between air pollution and health have been widely reported (Brunekreef and Holgate 2002). Many studies highlight the importance of particulates with an aerodynamic diameter of less than 10 lm (PM 10 ), which, due to their small size, can penetrate deep into the human lung and cause respiratory illness (Le Tertre et al. 2002; Janssen et al. 2005; Jerrett et al. 2005). Alongside PM 10 s are further grain size divisions of PM 2.5 and PM 0.1 (2.5 lm and 0.1 lm, respectively, again relative to their aerody- namic diameters). These fine and ultrafine particulates have higher burdens of toxicity as they become coated with heavy metals and chemicals, which, when inhaled, can become absorbed into the body and may target specific organs (Morawska and Zhang 2002; Oberdo ¨rster 2000; Englert 2004). Epidemiological studies investigating the health effects of air pollutants have largely relied upon data A. L. Power (&) Á A. T. Worsley Geography Department, Natural Geographical and Applied Sciences, Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, Lancashire L39 4QP, UK e-mail: powera@edgehill.ac.uk C. Booth School of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of Wolverhampton, Wulfruna Street, Wolverhampton, West Midlands WV1 1SB, UK 123 Environ Geochem Health (2009) 31:315–325 DOI 10.1007/s10653-008-9217-2