Impact of Automobile Induced Air Pollution on roadside vegetation: A Review

The activities of man constitute one single factor, which often disrupt the intricate balance among the foregoing constituents of the life support system. In his eagerness to urbanize and industrialize, man has not only destroyed plant cover built up meticulously by nature over millions of years, but also polluted air, water and land, so much so that development has become synonymous with deforestation and desertification and progressed with pollution. Air pollution has become a major environmental risk as far as public health is concerned. It has been proposed that reduction in levels of air pollution may result in lessening of the global burden of disease. Emissions from vehicles possess various pollutants which cause worst form of environmental pollution. Various pollutants of vehicles altered parameters of exposed vegetation. Increase in vehicles pollution may also increase effect of vehiclesemitted pollutants on vegetation. It affects mainly the photosynthetic pigments, respiratory activities, enzymatic activities, uptake of water etc. This review highlighted on worsening air quality around the world, studies on dust interception capacity of plants, physiological alterations in plants in response to air pollution load, elemental distribution in different environmental samples and effects of urban dust particulates with respect to plant growth .