Atmospheric heavy metal deposition in Romania and neighboring countries: comparative evaluation on the basis of all European moss monitoring

Abstract

Anthropogenic emissions of heavy metals represent potentially hazardous agents for individual elements of the environment and for mankind itself. At elevated levels, in soil and ground water, heavy metals can inhibit plant growth, consequently reduce crop yield, and via the food chain cause harm to human health. Therefore, long-term monitoring programs of large-scale atmospheric deposition of heavy metals are crucial for observation of contami- nation levels by especially hazardous elements in several countries. Mosses provide an effective and cheap method for monitoring trends in heavy metal pollution of the environment. The concept and technique of analyzing deposition of heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Ni, Pb, V, and Zn) in mosses was introduced in the Nordic countries. Afterwards, based on this bio- monitoring technique, the All-European project European Survey of Atmospheric Heavy Metal Deposition was launched. Upon the results of this research, repeated at 5-year intervals, the comparison of atmospheric heavy metal deposition in Romania with neighboring countries such as Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, participating in the above-mentioned moss surveys is conducted. The most important potential sources of heavy metal emissions into the atmosphere in these countries are discussed. However, the long-range atmospheric transport of polluted aerosols is not to be neglected.