Airborne radionuclides in mosses collected at different latitudes

Atmospheric Deposition of Radionuclides and Major and Trace Elements by Moss Biomonitoring Technique

“…Therefore, moss biomonitoring was used as a complementary technique alongside classic instrumental methods in air pollution detection and control. Also, mosses have been used as bioindicators for terrestrial long-lived radionuclides ( 40 K, 238 U, and 232 Th) and artificial radionuclides ( 137 Cs, 90 Sr, and 239+240 Pu) in the environment [1][2][3][4][5].Rapid industrialization in cities and the contributory relationships with the original pollution sources can cause serious environmental problems within cities [6][7][8][9]. Istanbul is the most crowded city in Turkey and the fifth most crowded in the world.…”

“…Therefore, moss biomonitoring was used as a complementary technique alongside classic instrumental methods in air pollution detection and control. Also, mosses have been used as bioindicators for terrestrial long-lived radionuclides ( 40 K, 238 U, and 232 Th) and artificial radionuclides ( 137 Cs, 90 Sr, and 239+240 Pu) in the environment [1][2][3][4][5].…”

Assessment of 210Po and 210Pb in lichen, moss and soil around Çan coal-fired power plant, Turkey

“…210 Pb is also a natural radionuclide emitting beta and gamma radiation, with a relatively long half-life (22.3 years). It originates from lithogenic minerals in the subsoil [6,7]. Recently, the amount of 210 Po and 210 Pb has increased in the environment as a result of human activities such as the operation of power plants burning fossil fuels, agriculture, the fertilizer industries, and exhaust fumes from vehicles [5,6,8].…”

“…For this reason, studies have focused particularly on 210 Po and 210 Pb activity in soil, moss and lichen samples collected around CFPPs [6][7][8][9][10]12]. According to these studies, activity concentrations of 210 Po and 210 Pb were reported to be much higher in the vicinity of CFPPs when compared to control areas due to the emission of flue gases and fly ash from burning coal.…”

“…Compared to vascular plants, mosses and lichens grow slowly and their morphology does not change significantly with the seasons. Furthermore, they have thinner cuticle layers, and also possess a large surface/volume ratio which allows them to take in nutrients easily together with water from the atmosphere [7,16]. Therefore, moss and lichen species are exposed to pollutants from the atmosphere all through the year [12,18] and have been widely used globally for the biomonitoring of atmospheric contaminants such as heavy metals and radionuclides [15,16,[19][20][21][22].…”