The effects of air pollution and UV-B radiation on fruits using LPAS

method
S. Banita, M. Patachia, D. C. Dumitras, C. Achim, M. Bercu, A.M. Bratu, C.Matei
National Institute for Laser, Plasma and Radiation Physics
409 Atomistilor St., PO Box MG-36, 077125 Bucharest, Romania
stefan.banita@inflpr.ro
ABSTRACT
Laser photoacoustic spectroscopy (LPAS) is a very powerful technique capable of measuring trace gas concentration from multicomponent mixtures with high accuracy. The
near real-time analyses, high selectivity and sensitivity of LPAS detection allow the investigation of gases at low concentrations.
The purpose of our research was to distinguish and measure the effects of air pollution and UV-B radiation on fresh fruits.
Traces of gases released by various fruit samples absorb laser radiation inside the cell and the gas concentration is calculated from a comparison of the photoacoustic signals on
various laser emission frequencies. The CO2 laser based instrument allows detection of gas emission in a continuous-flow system down to 1 ppb and the sensitivity of the
technique is such that absorptions of 10-7 cm-1 can be measured over path lengths of a few tens of centimeters.
We compared the response of trace gas concentration from fresh fruits in a controlled environment: polluted air (collected from the exhaust of cars and atmosphere) and UV-B
radiation (with an UV lamp in the range of 270-320 nm).
The topic addressed in this paper is one of the most important ones in Life Sciences at the international and global level, namely the effects of plant pollution on human health
and the environment.
LPAS SYSTEM
To evaluate the concentration of ethylene released by fruits we have used a performant laser photoacoustic spectroscopy(LPAS). The LPAS is a highly sensitive method to
analyze low molecular weight gases, able to detect concentrations at sub-ppb level and rapid changes in their evolution. In this work we measured the level of ethylene at
fruits both under stress and in normal conditions, targeting the behavior difference in ethylene emission for organic fruits (without toxicity, artificial hormones or irradiation
etc.) and correspondent types obtained in intensive growth conditions. The organic material was obtained from private home gardens, while the stressed samples were
bought from local supermarket chains. Our choice on fruits included green apricots, cherries, strawberry, raspberry, bananas. The differentiation between the organic/non-
organic character is based on the comparative fruit response in both aerobic and anaerobic regimes.

Fig. 1. CO2 laser photoacoustic spectroscopy system.

RESULTS
Ethylene Concentraton (ppb/g)

UV-B radiaton
Polluton

CONCLUSIONS
As a general result of our measurements we conclude that for all UV-B radiation fruits, the emission of ethylene is much lower compared to the ethylene from the pollution fruits
from supermarkets and private garden. Higher rates, by more than 100% in all cases, was observed for pollution conditions with values ranging from 5 ppb to 10 ppb for green
tomatoes and from 30 ppb to 40 ppb for mature tomatoes. In the future, the employed technique can be adapted for large-scale use, allowing to everybody to assess if the BIO
etiquette is also practically sustained. REFERENCES
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pp. 308-314 (2010)
[2] . Bni, C. Popa, M. Paachia and D. C. Dumitra, Ethylene concentration at fruits under aerobic vs. anaerobic conditions, U.P.B Sci. Bull., Series A, Vol. 75, No. 3, pp. 217-226 (2013)
[3] C. Popa, D. C. Dumitra, A. M. Bratu, M. Paachia and . Bni, Ethylene production of organic and nonorganic mature mushrooms measured by LPAS, Rom. Rep. Phys., Vol. 66, No. 3 (2014)
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