In situ monitoring of air pollutants in the Ružomberok area - vascular plants as indicators

In our study we focused on the usage of Pinus sylvestris, more specifically on needles as the bio-indicators of air pollution in the town of Ružomberok. Samples were collected from the Mních Hill locality research area. We created 19 network points and 4 main locations from which we took in the period of autumn months (October, November) 2014 and spring months (March, April) 2015 the samples of Pinus sylvestris twigs. After that the samples were dried, split into one-year and two-year needles, these were milled and X-rated in the XRF spectrometer Delta. The results were processed again in Excel and evaluated in the statistical programme STATISTICA 10.1. From the results obtained, we wanted to highlight the degree of contamination by heavy metals and other pollutants and identify the storage capability of a selected bio-indicator. We processed the results indicating an increased concentration of air pollutants. Increased levels of Cl, Pb and Rb were measured mainly in the southern and south-western exposure of the Mních Hill.