The Moss Biomonitoring Method and Neutron Activation Analysis in Assessing Pollution by Trace Elements in Selected Polish National Parks

Abstract

The concentrations of trace elements in feather moss Pleurozium schreberi (Brid.) Mitt. were used to indicate the relative levels of air pollution by trace elements in Polish national parks. Pleurozium schreberi was collected from nine national parks. The highest concentrations were recorded in the moss samples from the southern and most industrialised part of the country; the lowest from northern and north-eastern Poland. A comparison of data obtained from Polish national parks in the 1970s and 1990s showed a significant decrease in the concentrations of heavy metals. In the linear covariability estimation, the t quantile approach was used for multi-element comparison. A number of positive covariabilities were observed. This is a result of anthropogenic activity and the geochemical characteristics of the local environment, including crust composition to which soil composition is related. The statistical approach of t quantile to study common relationships between element concentrations can be used in the interpretation of biomonitoring research results in similar studies.

Global ambient air quality monitoring: Can mosses help? A systematic meta-analysis of literature about passive moss biomonitoring

“…Several recent studies have integrated moss-based records with various multivariate statistical methods to probe into potential origins (anthropogenic vs. natural/geogenic), species assemblages, and spatial structure of occurrences of various pollutant species, which aid in assessing eco-environmental risks (Chaligava et al, 2021 ; Kosior et al, 2020 ). In a recent study, Lazo et al ( 2018 ) assessed 48 moss records of 37 elements across Albania.…”

“…As the need of improved air quality monitoring soared, a growing idea has been to test and adopt moss-based approaches, which, many authorities believe, offers certain means to ‘expand’ existing monitoring network (Kapusta & Godzik, 2020 ). It is as Kosior et al ( 2020 ) maintained, " Today, moss biomonitoring is a part of pollution monitoring programs in most European countries as it gives evidence of the anthropogenic impact in urban areas due to vehicular traffic and fossil fuel combustion". Moss-based biomonitoring of atmospheric pollution was pioneered by the Swedish research groups in the 1960s (Donovan et al, 2016 ).…”

Is Active Moss Biomonitoring Comparable to Air Filter Standard Sampling?

“…The value of the t parameter was low, revealing a common trend in concentration changes, i.e., an increase in c j was followed by an increase in c l . To estimate the covariability in the concentration of the metal pairs, t jl (j,l = {Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Pb}) were calculated according to a method described in [48]. The results are presented in Table S3 in the Supplementary Materials.…”

Estimating the bioaccessibility of atmospheric trace elements within the Athabasca bituminous sands region using the acid soluble ash fraction of Sphagnum moss

“…For all of these reasons, environmental biomonitoring using mosses has proven to be an efficient, useful, and economical approach for assessing the spatial and temporal variations in atmospheric deposition of dusts and TEs worldwide. [60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76] Previous studies found that total concentrations of Ag, Cd, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sb, V, and Tl in Sphagnum within the ABS region were similar to or lower than those in the "cleanest" ancient peat samples from Switzerland. 14 Although their concentrations increased with distance toward the ABS region, these TEs were strongly correlated with conservative, lithophile elements which implicated mineral dust particles as the predominant source.…”

“…For all of these reasons, environmental biomonitoring using mosses has proven to be an efficient, useful, and economical approach for assessing the spatial and temporal variations in atmospheric deposition of dusts and TEs worldwide. 60–76…”