Abstract

The moss biomonitoring technique was used for assessment of air pollution in the central part of Georgia, Caucasus, in the framework of the UNECE ICP Vegetation. A total of 35 major and trace elements were determined by two complementary analytical techniques, epithermal neutron activation analysis (Na, Mg, Al, Cl, K, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Zn, Se, B, Rb, Sr, Zr, Mo, Sb, I, Cs, Ba, La, Ce, Nd, Sm, Eu, Tb, Yb, Hf, Ta, W, Th, and U) and atomic absorption spectrometry (Cu, Cd, and Pb) in the moss samples collected in 2019. Principal Component Analyses was applied to show the association between the elements in the study area. Four factors were determined, of which two are of geogenic origin (Factor 1 including Na, Al, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Fe, Co, Ni, Th, and U and Factor 3 with As, Sb, and W), mixed geogenic–anthropogenic (Factor 2 with Cl, K, Zn, Se, Br, I, and Cu) and anthropogenic (Factor 4 comprising Ca, Cd, Pb, and Br). Geographic information system (GIS) technologies were used to construct distributions maps of factor scores over the investigated territory. Comparison of the median values with the analogous data of moss biomonitoring in countries with similar climatic conditions was carried out.

Highlights

  • IntroductionAt present air pollution is recognized as the fifth largest threat to human health [1]

  • At present air pollution is recognized as the fifth largest threat to human health [1].Air pollution and the associated problems are not confined by any geopolitical boundaries

  • Mosses are recognized as good biomonitors of air pollution due to their specific morpho-physiological features: the lack of a root system, large surface area, and a high cation-exchange capacity of cell membranes, which represent their adaptations to nutrition from the air

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Summary

Introduction

At present air pollution is recognized as the fifth largest threat to human health [1]. Mosses are recognized as good biomonitors of air pollution due to their specific morpho-physiological features: the lack of a root system, large surface area, and a high cation-exchange capacity of cell membranes, which represent their adaptations to nutrition from the air. Mosses are ubiquitous species and they have been extensively used in large-scale studies for biomonitoring of trans-boundary air pollution [5] known as passive moss biomonitoring [4]. The moss biomonitoring method, in combination with nuclear and related analytical techniques, has been regularly used for the last 25 years in Western European countries to study atmospheric deposition of heavy metals (HM). There is a need to investigate whether mosses sampled in this region can be used as biomonitors of atmospheric heavy metal deposition given the rather high contribution of mineral particles to the metal concentration in mosses.

Study Area
Moss Sampling
Sampling
Sample Preparation and Elemental Analysis
Quality Control of ENAA and AAS
Data Analysis Using PCA
Construction
Results and Discussion
Summary
Factor
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