Influence of environmental pollution on leaf properties of urban plane trees, Platanus orientalis L
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Updated: Jun 12, 2026

Assessing the Particulate Matter Removal Abilities of Tree Leaves
Published on: October 7, 2018
Alireza Pourkhabbaz1, Nayerah Rastin, Andrea Olbrich
1University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HAWK), Büsgenweg 1a, 37077, Göttingen, Germany.
Abstract:
To investigate whether leaves of plane trees (Platanus orientalis) are damaged by traffic pollution, trees from a megacity (Mashhad, Iran) and a rural area were investigated. Soil and air from the urban centre showed enrichment of several toxic elements, but only lead was enriched in leaves. Leaf size and stomata density were lower at the urban site. At the urban site leaf surfaces were heavily loaded by dust particles but the stomata were not occluded; the cuticle was thinner; other anatomical properties were unaffected suggesting that plane trees can cope with traffic exhaust in megacities.
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