AIR QUALITY IN THE RECREATION AREAS OF THE CHIŞINĂU CITY BY BIOINDICATION

Green areas are an important component of urban ecosystem which also associates a range of benefic functions for people, especially socio-cultural, aesthetic and recreational. The ratio of green areas per one Chisinau city inhabitant is about 30 m2 (World Health Organization recommends about 50 m2). Taking into consideration the insufficiency of green areas but also the citizens’ intensive attendance of these, particularly at the end of the week and during summer, their study and environmental state monitoring is rather actuality. One of the current methods applied to investigate the state of environmental components is bioindication, which can provide accurate and comprehensive information concerning the environmental quality of investigated components. The study conducted in 2003-2007, in 18 recreation areas of Chisinau, showed that the air in most of the areas (represented by green areas) is polluted with SO2 (0,2 to 0,3 mg/m3 air), which was additionally confirmed by the values of the Index of Atmospheric Purity (IAP). Lower air pollution by SO2 has been recorded in green areas located in the Northern part of the city, whereas heavily polluted air was recorded in various green areas located in South of city.