A group of students from IES Aralar de Alegia, in collaboration with CSIC researcher Iker Aranjuelo Mitxelena, analyzes air quality in the region

2023/05/29 STEAM-Hezkuntza (Elhuyar Zientzia)

• STEAM-hezkuntza

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The students have analyzed the air quality in Alegia, Altzo and Amezketa, by analyzing the llollobelar (Lolium multiflorum), by biomonitoring. Plants can accumulate heavy metals from the air around them, something that young people have analyzed to observe air quality. To do so, they divided the vegetation into groups and kept it for 45 days in different settlements of the aforementioned localities: near the highway, far from it, in the school…

On March 23, the center became a laboratory and the young people, with the help of CSIC researchers, Iker Aranjuelo Mitxelena, Dorra Fakhet and Garazi Ezpeleta Rodríguez, and professor Xabi Herrera, performed sampling and plant measurements. The samples taken were sent to the laboratory for the measurement of heavy metals contained in the leaves. At the end of April, young people received the results of heavy metal concentrations in plants and for one month they have analyzed the results obtained.

Discussion of results

On 26 May, young people met again with Iker Aranjuelo Mitxelena to discuss the results and draw conclusions on air quality in the places studied. The following conclusions were drawn from this intense debate:

• The accumulation of heavy metals associated with traffic has been higher in locations close to N-1, so it can be considered that air quality and distance from the road are inversely proportional.
• Some heavy non-traffic-related metals have accumulated in some locations. The accumulation of these heavy metals could be due to the influence of the industries surrounding the settlements on which the plants were based.
• Biomonitoring is a good method to study air quality.

With this project, young people have had the opportunity to work on a real research project and get to know the researchers' daily life, since the study is part of a project by CSIC researcher Iker Aranjuelo Mitxelena.

 

This project, promoted by Elhuyar, has the collaboration of the Department of Economic Promotion, Tourism and Rural Environment of the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa.