Assessment of air pollution by toxic elements on petrol stations using moss and lichen bag technique

Abstract

The rapid progress of modern society has significantly increased the level of urbanization followed by transport sector development. An increasing number of vehicles has recently directed research on air pollution originating from traffic rather than from industry (Salo and Mäkinen 2014). A lot of authors studied roadside environment to demonstrate that the traffic contributes significantly to heavy metal pollution (Rossi et al. 2015, Motuzas et al. 2016. It has been reported repeatedly that heavy metal concentrations in soils, waters and air have increased with increasing traffic (Lenkeppa et al. 2015).The petrol stations represent places, where the numbers of cars pass through -stop and start again. Starting a vehicle and the first few minutes of driving generate higher emissions because the emissions-control equipment has not yet reached Three moss (Pleurosium spp., Polytrichum spp., Rhytidiadelphus spp.) and two lichen taxa (Hypogymnia physodes L., Pseudevernia furfuracea L.), were exposed for four weeks in six petrol stations, two consecutive years (2015)(2016), in urban area of the Prešov city (Slovakia), to assess accumulation of selected airborne elements Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn. Significantly highest (P < 0.01) ability to accumulate Zn, Ni, Co and Fe was found in Pleurosium spp.; Pseudevernia furfuracea was determined the best accumulator of Hg, whereas Rhytidiadelphus spp. was found as the least suitable for this purpose. No significant differences in heavy metal accumulation between moss and lichen taxonomic group were found. Samples of conifer (used as a moss/lichen bag holder) showed significantly lower content of heavy metals compared to mosses and lichens. Major content of heavy metals trapped in the air around petrol stations, did not originate from the petrol combustion, but predominantly from the car body, which is mechanically disrupted during fuelling. Assessment of air pollution by toxic elements on petrol stations using moss and lichen bag technique

Assessment of Atmospheric Pollution by Selected Elements and PAHs during 12-Month Active Biomonitoring of Terrestrial Mosses

“…As mentioned earlier, for active biomonitoring, such long study periods (conducting long-term exposure periods) are not used. Most often, these are short periods of up to six months [50], although usually up to 12 weeks of sample exposure [51][52][53][54][55]. There are only a few studies describing the exposure of mosses over a longer period [37,56].…”

http://jeb.co.in./journal_issues/202311_nov23/paper_12.pdf

“…The accumulation of heavy metals in lichens may differ among species, as it is greatly influenced by land use gradients within a particular habitat (Bozkurt, 2017;Demková et al, 2017a, b;Parviainen et al, 2019;Popova, 2019;Vitali et al, 2019;Işik and Yildiz, 2022;Mohamed et al, 2023;Saib et al, 2023). Among the lichen-rich regions in the Indian subcontinent, the temperate habitats of the Himalayas stand out (Upreti, 1998).…”