Indoor vs. outdoor airborne element array: A novel approach using moss bags to explore possible pollution sources

Capozzi, Fiore; Palma, A. Di; Adamo, Paola; Sorrentino, Maria Cristina; Giordano, Simonetta; Spagnuolo, Valeria

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2019.03.012

Cited by 20 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 42 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Traffic is also a source for Cr and Mo, whose outdoor contents were intercorrelated (Table 3). Compared to urban sites in Capozzi et al [21], one of the very few corresponding studies, the ratio for Cr is lower in their study. This low ratio suggests an even stronger contribution from outdoor sources than in our study or an influence of measurement error in our small study.…”

Section: Indoor Versus Outdoor Concentrationscontrasting

confidence: 64%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Indoor monitoring of heavy metals and NO2 using active monitoring by moss and Palmes diffusion tubes

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Indoor pollution is a real threat to human health all over the world. Indoor pollution derives from indoor sources (e.g. smoking, gas stoves, coated furniture) as well as from outdoor sources (e.g. industries, vehicles). Long-term monitoring measurements in indoor environments are missing to a large extent due to a lack of simple to operate measuring devices. Mosses proved well as biomonitors in hundreds of studies. Nevertheless, indoor use has been extremely scarce. Therefore, this study aimed to determine indoor and outdoor pollution by active biomonitoring using moss as well as NO2 samplers to analyse outdoor and indoor levels of pollution. We exposed moss (Pleurozium schreberi) for 8 weeks indoors and outdoors in 20 households in the city of Girona, Spain. Al, Cr, Cu, Zn, Sn, Cd, Pb, Mo, and Sb were analysed by moss-samplers. Additionally, NO2 was measured with Palmes diffusion tubes. Results Compared to the pre-exposure analysis, concentrations of almost all elements both on indoor and outdoor mosses increased. Except for Cd, all metals and NO2 had, on average, higher concentrations in outdoor mosses than at corresponding indoor sites. However, some 20% of the samples showed inverse patterns, thus, indicating both indoor and outdoor sources. Indoor/outdoor correlations of elements were not significant, but highest for markers of traffic-related pollution, such as Sn, Sb, and NO2. The wide range of indoor–outdoor ratios of NO2 exemplified the relevance of indoor sources such as smoking or gas cooking. Though mostly excluded in this study, a few sites had these sources present. Conclusions The study at hand showed that moss exposed at indoor sites could be a promising tool for long-time biomonitoring. However, it had also identified some drawbacks that should be considered in future indoor studies. Increments of pollutants were sometimes really low compared to the initial concentration and therefore not detectable. This fact hampers the investigation of elements with low basic element levels as, e.g. Pt. Therefore, moss with real low basic levels is needed for active monitoring, especially for future studies in indoor monitoring. Cloned material could be a proper material for indoor monitoring yet never was tested for this purpose.

show abstract

Section: Indoor Versus Outdoor Concentrationscontrasting

confidence: 64%

“…Ahead of the study at hand, indoor monitoring with moss was only performed by Al-Radady et al [18,19], who successfully exposed a few moss-bags and subsequently analysed several heavy metals. Two more studies attempted same as the one presented in this article [20,21].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Indoor monitoring of heavy metals and NO2 using active monitoring by moss and Palmes diffusion tubes

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Moss and lichen-bags have been valuably used in biomonitoring of air quality [9,12,16], but while their efficacy in bioaccumulation of pollutants (e.g., metals, metalloids, PAHs) is well known when they are exposed in open air and fixed positions, poor data exist on their potential ability in other exposure conditions. For example, few data are available on pollutant bioaccumulation by bags exposed indoors [17][18][19][20] and, to our knowledge, no data have been published so far on moss-bags exposed in mobile systems. These data are of fundamental importance for a global evaluation of the risk level related to the exposure to airborne pollutants.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mobile Biomonitoring of Atmospheric Pollution: A New Perspective for the Moss-Bag Approach

Sorrentino

Capozzi

Wuyts

et al. 2021

Plants

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this work the potential of moving moss-bags, fixed to bicycles, to intercept particulate matter (PM) and linked metal(loid)s was tested for the first time. Seven volunteers carried three moss-bags for fifty days while commuting by bicycle in the urban area of Antwerp, Belgium. Moreover, one bike, equipped with mobile PM samplers, travelled along four routes: urban, industrial, green route and the total path, carrying three moss-bags at each route. The saturation isothermal remanent magnetization (SIRM) signal and chemical composition (assessed by HR-ICP-MS) of the moss samples indicated that the industrial route was the most polluted. Element fluxes (i.e., the ratio between element daily uptake and the specific leaf area) could discriminate among land uses; particularly, they were significantly higher in the industrial route for Ag, As, Cd and Pb; significantly lowest in the green route for As and Pb; and comparable for all accumulated elements along most urban routes. A comparison with a previous experiment carried out in the same study area using similar moss-bags at static exposure points, showed that the element fluxes were significantly higher in the mobile system. Finally, PM2.5 and PM10 masses measured along the four routes were consistent with element fluxes.

show abstract

“…To date, many recent researches have assessed that for metal(loid)s and PAHs the uptake ability of mosses and lichens is mostly related to the ability to intercept and hold particulate matter [9][10][11] and to the specific features of cell walls [12,13]. Therefore, moss and lichen vitality does not alter metal uptake [14], since most of these elements are passively adsorbed to the thalli in form of PM.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Morphological Traits Influence the Uptake Ability of Priority Pollutant Elements by Hypnum cupressiforme and Robinia pseudoacacia Leaves

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this paper, a biomonitoring survey of airborne priority pollutant elements was carried out using leaves of native black locust and moss bags filled with Hypnum cupressiforme. The aims of the work were (i) to evaluate if mosses and leaves provide similar information regarding the accumulation of the elements of environmental concern (As, Be, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sb, Se, V, Zn, Tl); (ii) to evaluate if leaf traits are significantly involved in the uptake mechanisms. Hypnum transplants showed elemental contents generally higher than R. pseudoacacia leaves, despite the shorter exposure time. Moss accumulated larger amounts of elements linked to PM and the resuspension of soil dust. Based on the calculation of deposition flux for each element, R. pseudoacacia showed lower values for most elements—except Cr, Mo and Zn—indicating that uptake takes place both by deposition on the leaf surface and absorption via the root. Leaf traits (micromorphology of surface) play an important role in the interception and retention of PM-linked elements. Hypnum transplanted in bags was confirmed to be a powerful bio-accumulator of airborne elements; by contrast, R. pseudoacacia, with a smooth surface and scarce trichomes, showed a limited ability in airborne element retention. Therefore, widely diffused species, well-adapted to anthropized environments, such as black locust, not always can be considered as good biomonitors. The results are discussed in comparison to other vascular plant species used in biomonitoring studies.

show abstract

Indoor vs. outdoor airborne element array: A novel approach using moss bags to explore possible pollution sources

Cited by 20 publications

References 42 publications

Indoor monitoring of heavy metals and NO2 using active monitoring by moss and Palmes diffusion tubes

Indoor monitoring of heavy metals and NO2 using active monitoring by moss and Palmes diffusion tubes

Mobile Biomonitoring of Atmospheric Pollution: A New Perspective for the Moss-Bag Approach

Morphological Traits Influence the Uptake Ability of Priority Pollutant Elements by Hypnum cupressiforme and Robinia pseudoacacia Leaves

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About