Induced Changes of Photosynthetic Pigments in Selected Plant Species Due to Cement Dust Pollution

Plants are the only living organisms which have to suffer a lot from cement dust pollution, because they remain static at their habitat. In the present study, the estimation of Chlorophyll 'a', Chlorophyll 'b' and total carotenoid pigments were studied in three different species such as Azhadirachta indica (L), Polyalthia longifolia (L) and Ficus religiosa (L). Extraction was made using 100 per cent acetone and spectrophotometric determination was carried out. The selected plant species was exposed to the cement dust pollution. Variation in Chl'a', Chl'b' and carotenoid were found out from the plant species which were exposed to the cement dust pollution on various days such as 30, 60, 90, 120, 150 and 180 days. Ficus religiosa (L) was found to be more affected compared to the remaining species. This variation can be used as indicators of the air pollution for early diagnosis of stress caused by the pollution. The findings implied that cement dust pollution reduced the photosynthetic capacity of the plants. The reduction in photosynthetic pigments corresponds directly to the reduction in plant growth.