Effects of Inert Dust on Olive Leaf
Short Original Communications (Subject Area 1: Terrestrial Ecology and Biology)
Effects of Inert Dust on Olive (Olea europaea L.) Leaf Physiological Parameters*
George D. Nanos1** and Ilias F. Ilias2
1 School of Agricultural Science, University of Thessaly, Fitoko Str, 38446 Volos, Greece
2 Department of Crop Production, Technological Educational Institute, PO Box 141, 54100 Thessaloniki, Greece
** Corresponding author (gnanos@agr.uth.gr)
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1065/espr2006.08.327
Please cite this paper as: Nanos GD, Ilias IF (2007): Effects
of Inert Dust on Olive (Olea europeaea L.) Leaf Physiological
Parameters. Env Sci Pollut Res 14 (3) 212–214
Abstract
Background. Cement factories are major pollutants for the surround-
ing areas. Inert dust deposition has been found to affect photosyn-
thesis, stomatal functioning and productivity. Very few studies have
been conducted on the effects of cement kiln dust on the physiology
of perennial fruit crops. Our goal was to study some cement dust
effects on olive leaf physiology.
Methods. Cement kiln dust has been applied periodically since April
2003 onto olive leaves. Cement dust accumulation and various leaf
physiological parameters were evaluated early in July 2003. Mea-
surements were also taken on olive trees close to the cement factory.
Results. Leaf dry matter content and specific leaf weight increased
with leaf age and dust content. Cement dust decreased leaf total
chlorophyll content and chlorophyll a/chlorophyll b ratio. As a re-
sult, photosynthetic rate and quantum yield decreased. In addition,
transpiration rate slightly decreased, stomatal conductance to H2O
and CO2 movement decreased, internal CO2 concentration remained
constant and leaf temperature increased.
Discussion. The changes in chlorophyll are possibly due to shading
and/or photosystem damage. The changes in stomatal functioning
were possibly due to dust accumulation between the peltates or other
effects on stomata.
Conclusions. Dust (in this case from a cement kiln) seems to cause
substantial changes to leaf physiology, possibly leading to reduced
olive productivity.
Recommendations. Avoidance of air contamination from cement
factories by using available technology should be examined together
with any possible methodologies to reduce plant tissue contamina-
tion from cement dust.
Perspectives. Longterm effects of dust (from cement kiln or other
sources) on olive leaf, plant productivity and nutritional quality of
edible parts could be studied for conclusive results on dust contami-
nation effects to perennial crops.
Keywords: Cement kiln dust; olive (Olea europaea L.) leaf; photo-
synthetic rate; quantum yield; transpiration
Introduction
The main atmospheric pollutants are: gaseous - mainly SO2,
NOx, O3, heavy metals and dust, which often includes heavy
metals. Increased concentrations of the above pollutants
cause progressive reduction in the photosynthetic ability of
leaves, closure of leaf stomata and, mainly, a reduction in
growth and productivity of plants (Larcher 1995). Based on
212
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Short Original Communications
a review by Farmer (1993), cement dust blocked stomata,
inhibited pollen germination and reduced photosynthetic
or transpiration rate in a number of annual crops. More
recent work showed that cement dust decreased the pro-
ductivity and concentration of chlorophyll in a number of
annual non-leguminous crops (Liu et al. 1997, Pandey and
Kumar 1996, Saralabai and Vivekanandan 1997, Satao et
al. 1993). Also, in recent years, many effects of cement dust
have been studied on conifers growing in central European
forests (Lepedus et al. 2003, Mandre and Ots 1999, Mandre
and Tuulmets 1997).
On cultivated evergreen trees (where leaves remain active
for more than a year), cement dust was found to reduce
productivity or change the inorganic leaf content (Farmer
1993). No studies were found on the effects of cement dust
to leaf physiological characteristics of those trees. In the
region of Volos, central Greece, olives are extensively culti-
vated close to a cement factory, mainly for the production
of table olives. The present research is aimed at investigat-
ing the effect of cement dust on leaf physiological param-
eters, as a way to better understand the mechanisms affect-
ing productivity.
1 Material and Methods
1.1 Plant experimental material
Experimental, 5–8-year-old branches (branch diameter 30–
50 mm) were selected randomly to all directions from ten
well-pruned 30-year-old olive trees (Olea europaea L. cv.
Konservolea) situated in a drip irrigated grove 10 km away
from the cement factory or any other dust source in the re-
gion of Volos, Central Greece. On April 25, 2003 (initiation
of new shoot growth), cement kiln dust (collected from the
local cement kiln) was applied on both surfaces of slightly
humid leaves in 12 branches, used as replications. Twelve
similar branches were used as controls. Dust application was
repeated on May 14 and 23, and on June 4 and 27.
1.2 Leaf physiological parameter measurements
On July 9, measurements of photosynthetic rate were per-
formed (08:00–11:00) with a portable CID photosynthesis
unit (CI-301Ps, CID Inc., Vancouver) in leaves of 3 different
ages (up to 2-months-old, 1-year-old next to fruit and 2-
year-old). In total, 12 leaves per leaf age and treatment were
*ESS-Submission Editor: Prof. Dr. Stefan Trapp (stt@er.dtu.dk)
Env Sci Pollut Res 14 (3) 212 – 214 (2007)
Short Original Communications
measured. Using the GASEX program and the measured
parameters, the following parameters were calculated: tran-
spiration, leaf temperature, leaf conductance to H2O and
CO2 movement, quantum yield, water use efficiency and in-
ternal CO2 to external CO2 concentration ratio (Hall et al.
1993). Five additional leaves from each age and each branch-
replication were collected and placed in plastic bags in a por-
table refrigerator. For these leaves, the leaf surface, dust load,
chlorophyll content (Wintermans and Mots 1965), leaf dry
mass and specific leaf weight were measured or calculated.
Dust quantity was estimated by brushing the leaf surfaces,
collecting the dust and weighting it with a precision scale. For
leaf dry matter content, 5 discs were cut (1 per leaf of each
replication) with a 9 mm diameter borer, then placed in pre-
weighed Petri dish, measured fresh mass and, after keeping
them at 80°C for 48 h, measured dry mass. Percent leaf dry
matter and specific leaf weight were calculated.
In addition, on July 28, measurements on dust quantity and
leaf physiology were conducted (as described above) in two
drip irrigated olive farms situated around 300–500 m away
from the cement factory ('contaminated' groves) to com-
pare them with the experimental site's results.
1.3 Statistical analysis
Analysis of variance was conducted using one (dust pres-
ence) or two factors (dust presence and leaf age) and SPSS
statistical package (SPSS 12.0, Chicago, USA). Duncan's
mean separation was also used to separate means.
2 Results and Discussion
2.1 Dust deposition
The quantity of cement dust applied on olive leaves of the
experimental olive grove was, as expected, many fold higher
than the quantity of dust found on control leaves and, par-
ticularly, in older leaves (Table 1). At 'contaminated' olive
groves up to 500 m away from the cement factory, even
larger quantities of cement dust were found on leaves, as
well as an increase of dust quantity with leaf age (3-month-
old leaves 0.239; 1-year-old leaves 0.526; 2-year-old leaves
0.994 mg/cm2).
2.2 Leaf physiological characteristics
Leaf dry matter and specific leaf weight increased with leaf
age (see Table 1) as found before (Proietti and Famiani 2002).
Table 1: The effect of cement dust application on dust quantity, leaf dry matter, specific leaf weight, total chlorophyll a and b, and chlorophyll a/b ratio of
three leaf ages (1, up to 2-months-old; 2, one-year-old next to fruit; 3, two-year-old). Means followed by different letters differ significantly
Treatment Leaf age Cement dust Leaf dry matter
(mg/cm2) (%)
Control 1 0.04c 59.2c
2 0.02c 62.4b
3 0.05c 62.7b
Dust 1 0.17b 60.8bc
2 0.27a 65.2ab
3 0.29a 66.2a
Env Sci Pollut Res 14 (3) 2007
Effects of Inert Dust on Olive Leaf
Older leaves with cement dust had increased dry matter and
specific leaf weight compared to the corresponding leaves
without cement dust, probably because of the presence of
some dust following its removal with a brush.
The application of cement dust on olive leaves decreased
chlorophyll a and increased chlorophyll b content, decreased
chlorophyll a/ chlorophyll b ratio and slightly decreased to-
tal chlorophyll content (see Table 1). These changes in the
two types of chlorophyll can be attributed to the shading
caused by the dust on the leaf or damage to the photosyn-
thetic apparatus due to toxicity or increased water stress.
Reduction of total chlorophyll, but also chlorophylls a and
b, has been found in leaves of various annual plants and
conifers covered by cement dust (Mandre and Tuulmets
1997, Pandey and Kumar 1996). On the contrary, even
though leaves from the 'contaminated' groves had low leaf
dry matter and similar specific leaf weight compared to our
experimental site's cement dusted leaves, their chlorophyll
content was similar to the non-dusted leaves in our experi-
mental site, indicating a possible effect of other factors like
crop load, fertilization and irrigation techniques on chloro-
phyll content (data not shown). Crop load was similar in
the two sites, irrigation covered around 50% of the plant
ETo needs in both sites and fertilization in the experimental
site was optimal based on leaf tissue analysis. There is an-
other possibility that olive leaves have the capacity to adapt
to cement dust deposition when contamination is present
over a long period, which merits attention.
Leaves of three ages in each treatment did not differ in the
rate of photosynthesis, transpiration and other physiologi-
cal parameters. Thus, these leaves were used as replications
in each treatment. The application of dust on olive leaves
decreased photosynthetic rate by 23% and quantum yield
by 31% compared to the control (Table 2). The latter may
not be completely correct as part of solar radiation may not
reach chloroplasts due to increased reflectance (Nunes et al.
2004). Cement dust also caused a slight decrease in transpi-
ration rate and significant decrease in leaf conductance to
H2O and CO2 movement via the stomata (by 22 and 18%,
respectively). These changes resulted in a small increase of
leaf temperature and reduction of water use efficiency by
27%, without changing intercellular CO2 concentration (see
Table 2). In the 'contaminated' groves, photosynthetic and
transpiration rates and leaf conductance were found to be
similar to or even lower than the cement dust treated leaves
in the experimental site (data not shown). The values of leaf
Specific leaf Chlorophyll a Chlorophyll b Total chlorophyll Chlor
weight (g/m2) (mg/g DM) (mg/g DM) (mg/g DM) a/b ratio
190c 1.48a 0.97c 2.45ab 1.52a
218b 1.52a 1.15b 2.70a 1.32b
224b 1.42a 0.88c 2.30bc 1.61a
196c 0.92b 1.49a 2.41b 0.61c
224b 0.92b 1.41a 2.28bc 0.65c
250a 0.71b 1.23ab 1.95c 0.57c
213
Effects of Inert Dust on Olive Leaf Short Original Communications

Table 2: The effect of cement dust on photosynthetic rate, quantum yield, transpiration rate, water use efficiency, leaf temperature, leaf conductance to
H2O, leaf conductance to CO2 and CO2 in/CO2 out ratio of olive leaves

Parameters Units Control Dust Difference

Photosynthesis mmol/m2·s 14.1 10.9 *a
Quantum yield mol CO2 /100 photons 0.71 0.49 *
2
Transpiration mmol/m ·s 7.1 6.8 NS
Water use efficiency Mmol CO2 /molH2O 2.26 1.78 *
o
Leaf temperature C 31.6 32.1 *
2
Leaf conductance H2O mmol/m ·s 262 209 *
Leaf conductance CO2 mmol/m2·s 167 142 *
CO2 in/CO2 out – 0.93 0.93 NS
a
NS
* Non-significant or significant at P = 0.05, respectively

physiological parameters reported herein agree in general
with previously published work for olive trees (Bongi et al.
1987, Gucci et al. 1999, Proietti and Famiani 2002). Some
differences with previous data are mainly due to non-irri-
gated olive trees or cultivars used in other studies.
3 Discussion
The application of cement dust on olive leaves caused changes
in the chlorophyll a/chlorophyll b ratio similar to leaves of
plants developed in the shade. This reduction of light quan-
tity (due to increased reflectance, see Nunes et al. 2004) and/
or quality reaching chloroplasts possibly caused the reduc-
tion of photosynthetic rate and quantum yield. Other pub-
lished research has shown that photosystem damage may be
the cause of many changes in leaf physiological parameters
observed in our study (Angelopoulos et al. 1996, Proietti
and Famiani 2002). In our case, photosystem damage may
have occurred due to heavy metal toxicity, often associated
with cement dust contamination in previous reports (Farmer
1993). In addition, the presence of dust between the peltates
on the lower leaf surface must have caused – among other
possible effects – a decrease in leaf conductance to water
vapor and CO2 movement, although without significantly
affecting transpiration.
4 Conclusions
The olive leaf physiological work reported herein concludes
that shortterm exposure to dust (from a cement kiln) caused
important changes to leaf physiology, which could affect olive
tree productivity (see also Zanichelli et al. 2006).
5 Recommendations and Perspectives
Avoidance of air contamination from cement factories by
using available technology should be forced to avoid plant
contamination and possibly fruit contamination. Also, avail-
able methodologies to reduce plant contamination could be
studied in the future. Additional work with dust (short and
long exposure) could focus on the cause of tissue damage,
on possible effects to olive carbohydrate accumulation and
partitioning, and on fruit productivity and quality in unpol-
luted and polluted areas.
Acknowledgements. The authors would like to thank Ms Zografou
Maria for her help during field measurements.
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Received: January 20th, 2006
Accepted: August 7th, 2006
OnlineFirst: August 8th, 2006

214 Env Sci Pollut Res 14 (3) 2007