COPPER CONTENT IN SOME GRASSES FROM THE AREAS ADJACENT TO THE E30 HIGHWAY IN POLAND

In 2011, research on the impact of road traffic on copper content in leaves, stems and inflorescences of grasses was conducted. Tested plants in the study were three grass species Dactylis glomerata, Arrhenatherum elatius and Alopecurus pratensis. The plant material used in the study were collected at distances of 1, 5, 10 and 15 m from the edge of the road, on a road section with a length of 9 km. In collected plant parts copper content was estimated by AAS method. The average copper content in above parts of tested grass species was 7.62 mg times kg super(-1). The highest concentration of Cu (8.28 mg times kg super(-1)) was recorded in the above parts of Arrhenatherum elatius, and the lowest in Alopecurus pratensis (6.93 mg times kg super(-1)). The copper content in the analyzed morphological parts of each tested grass species was significantly different depending on the distance of sampling from the highway. The copper content in the morphological parts of the grass species tested depend on the place of occurrence, and their morphology.