Int. J. Environment and Pollution, Vol. 22, No. 5, 2004 1 Copyright © 2004 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. Biomonitoring of concentrations of platinum group elements and their correlations to other metals A.N. Riga-Karandinos * and C. Saitanis Laboratory of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Agricultural University of Athens, Iera Odos 75, Athens, 11855, Greece (e-mail: ceep2kaa@aua.gr) Abstract: Biomonitoring of Pt, Pd, Pb, Mn, Cu, Fe and Zn was conducted using leaves (two and six months old) of laurel (Laurus nobilis L.) ornamental shrubs grown in 14 sampling sites located on the central green belts of six avenues and streets of Athens. In this biomonitoring we determined, for the first time in Greece, the concentrations of the new urban ‘pollutants’ Pt and Pd, and we estimated the correlations among the concentrations of all the above- mentioned metals as well as among the metal concentrations and the traffic load. Cluster analysis and principal component analysis (PCA) of the data revealed three distinct groups of metals and two groups of sites (one with high and the other with relatively low levels of pollution). Using varimax-rotated PCA for the metals, four factors were extracted explaining 92.3% of the total shared variance, which are further discussed. The importance of seasonal timing of sampling is revealed by the data and discussed in connection with the meteorological conditions. Keywords: Athens, biomonitoring, heavy metals, laurel, platinum group elements, traffic pollution, urban pollution. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Riga-Karandinos, A.N. and Saitanis, C. (2004) ‘Biomonitoring of concentrations of platinum group elements and their correlations to other metals’, Int. J. Environment and Pollution, Vol. 22, No. 5, pp. 000–000. Biographical notes Antonia-Nelly Riga-Karandinos is a lecturer at the Laboratory of Ecology and Environmental Sciences of the Agricultural University of Athens. Her teaching topics include environmental pollution, basic ecology and urban ecology. Her research interests cover: biomonitoring of heavy metals, SO 2 , ozone and radionuclides ( 137 Cs); using lichens and higher plants in urban and industrial areas; air pollution effects on plants; heavy metal effects on soil fauna. She has published work in several international journals, including International Journal of Environmental Pollution, The Science of The Total Environment, The Bryologist, Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, and Chemosphere, and in proceedings of international congresses. Constantine Saitanis is a lecturer in the Laboratory of Ecology and Environmental Sciences of the Agricultural University of Athens. His teaching topics include environmental pollution, statistical methods applicable to ecology and environmental research (at undergraduate and postgraduate level), * Author for correspondence.