methodology ullah

Pollutant’s exposure experiments

the plants were exposed to 20 ppm gaseous toluene, 20 ppm gaseous formaldehyde, or 20 ppm of a
toluene and formaldehyde mixture (1:1) in glass chambers with a volume of 15.6 L.

Plantless pots with same amount of soil covered with three layers of aluminum foil were used as a
control. For mixed pollutants, 6 cycle was operated, which 48 h per cycle was done, and for individual
pollutant, 3 cycle was totally operated, which 48 h per cycle was done.

At the end of the experiments, leaves from the plants of Z. zamiifolia were removed, and bare stem was
exposed to same 20 ppm toluene-formaldehyde mixture (1:1) inside a glass chamber for one cycle (48
h). Leaves removed from same plants of Z. zamiifolia and S. trifasciata were processed for wax extraction.
Immediately, when extracted, wax were exposed to same amount of pollutants mixture inside a glass
chamber in the same aluminum plate in which they were extracted for one cycle (48 h). A control
aluminum place with no wax was used as control. Three replicates were done in each experiment and
each condition. Removal efficiency by different part of plant (wax and stem) was subtracted from whole
plant efficiency in order to get gaseous removed through stomata.

Gas chromatography analysis

Three replicates of gas samples (0.3 mL) were obtained after 12 h from each chamber through a
collection port using an airtight syringe (1 MR-VLL-GT 1 mL SYRINGE, SGE Analytical Science). The
collected samples were analyzed to determine the concentration of toluene and formaldehyde
remaining in the mixture by GC-FID. GC-FID can be operated for 0.5–25 ppm VOC detection, where the
minimum detection accuracy is 0.5 ppm.

Formaldehyde dehydrogenase assay

The activity of formaldehyde dehydrogenase (FDH) was assessed in shoot samples of Z. zamiifolia and S.
trifasciata with and without toluene-formaldehyde stress. Three grams of shoot sample were crushed
under liquid nitrogen and transferred to 40 mL of enzyme extraction medium.

Cuticular wax extraction

Cuticular waxes were extracted from the abaxial and adaxial leaf surfaces by drenching all leaves (260
cm2) of Z. zamiifolia and S. trifasciata in 200 mL of hexane overnight at 25 °C. Hexane-containing wax
extract was poured onto a 260-cm2 aluminum plate. After the evaporation of hexane, the remaining wax
was used for pollutant exposure experiments and quantification.

Carbon dioxide measurement

plants with 260 cm2 of leaf surface growing in 200 g of soil (same soil composition as used in the other
experiments) or 250 mL of Hoagland’s plant growth medium containing nutrients (NH4H2PO4, KNO3,
Ca(NO3)2, MgSO4, H3BO3, MnCl2.4H2O, ZnSO4.7H2O, CuSO4.5H2O, H2MoO4.H2O, EDTA, FeSO4.7H2O)
were prepared and acclimated to the indoor environment for 3 days before the experiment. plants were
placed in a glass chamber of 15.6 L with a CO2 meter, and the chambers were sealed with parafilm.
Readings were taken every 2 h for a period of 24 h (11 am start–11 am end) in both light and dark
conditions. Control chambers were used with glass bottles only for both light and dark conditions. Three
replicates were used for each condition.

Statistical analysis

The means of three replicates (n = 9) and the standard error (SE) were calculated. Standard deviation
represented by the error bar was calculated by Microsoft Excel 2016. Pie chart Environ Sci Pollut
Resanalysis was also performed using Microsoft Excel 2016. Mean comparison was analyzed by the
statistical package for social science (SPSS) version 20 and used two-way ANOVA for removal efficiency of
individual pollution and mixture pollution by Z. zamiifolia and S. trifasciata and mixed plants and three-
way ANOVA for formaldehyde dehydrogenase activity and CO2 concentration at 95% confident level. P
value were presented in each graph.

The methods used in this study are Pollutant’s exposure experiments, Gas chromatography analysis,
Formaldehyde dehydrogenase assay, Cuticular wax extraction, Carbon dioxide measurement and
Statistical analysis.

Discussion

A combination of two different plants species might be the best way to remove both polar and non-polar
pollutants. Combined plants removed significantly more toluene than individual plants (plant species p
value < 0.0001). The trend was similar over the six cycles. This result suggests that Z. zamiifolia and S.
trifasciata together can remove indoor formaldehyde and toluene efficiently.

Both Z. zamiifolia and S. trifasciata removed the majority of toluene and formaldehyde through the
stomatal pathway. The cuticular waxes of S. trifasciata were able to absorb a significantly more toluene
and formaldehyde than those of Z. zamiifolia. This higher removal capacity of S. trifasciata through
cuticular waxes might be related to its higher cuticular wax content per square centimeter of leaf surface
area. S. trifasciata waxes are rich in hexadecenoic acid, which might be related to the ability of this plant
to adsorb pollutants through its waxes (Sriprapat et al. 2014). Both toluene and formaldehyde were
removed by the plants (Fig. 1a, b), which ultimately would have increased the CO2 concentration. This
increase in CO2 concentration was considerably lower than that generated by Z. zamiifolia, which
produced up to 105 ppm of CO2 . The lower production by S. trifasciata can be attributed to the fact that
CAM plants are well known for the uptake of CO2 in dark conditions (Nyffeler and Eggli 2010a; b).

Conclusion

This study demonstrated that a combination of Z. zamiifolia and S. trifasciata can enhance the removal of
indoor polar and non-polar VOCs. We re-affirmed the fact that both plants eradicate the pollutants
mostly via the stomatal pathway, although the role of cuticular wax is of vital importance due to the
incomplete removal of formaldehyde via the stomata. We found that formaldehyde dehydrogenase
activity was increased when plants were exposed to formaldehyde. Moreover, the activity of FDH was
found to be higher in S. trifasciata compared with Z. zamiifolia. The combined plant of Z. zamiifolia and S.
trifasciata was also found to be efficient in reducing the overall CO2 concentration indoors. Both plant
species were observed to produce more CO2 when exposed to formaldehyde and toluene.

Kulkarni met

The methodology implemented are the selection of 10 plants to be tested, Tulsi plant is selected as a
main plant for the observations, selection of senors used to sense Oxygen concentration and Carbon
Dioxide Concentration, and setting up the Wireless Sensor Network. Air pollution monitoring system has
been developed using Wireless Sensor Network (WSN).

Results

Observations show that the concentration of CO2 decreases due to absorption by plants and O2
concentration increases. Thus these household plants in some way reduce the pollution by increasing
the oxygen content in the atmosphere.

Conclusions

Wireless air pollution monitoring system has been developed and tested in different tree cover area and
non-tree cover area. The impact of tree cover area/non tree cover area on air pollution is co-related with
due consideration of CO2 depletion and O2 emission concentration. Other parameters like temperature
and Wireless air pollution monitoring system has been developed and tested in different tree cover area
and non-tree cover area. The impact of tree cover area/non tree cover area on air pollution is co-related
with due consideration of CO2 depletion and O2 emission concentration. Other parameters like
temperature and