Abstract
Moss biomonitoring is a widely used technique for monitoring the accumulation of trace elements in airborne pollution. A total of one hundred and five samples, mainly of the Hypnum cupressiforme Hedw. moss species, were collected from the Northern Greece during the 2015/2016 European ICP Vegetation (International Cooperative Program on Effects of Air Pollution on Natural Vegetation and Crops) moss survey, which also included samples from the metalipherous area of Skouries. They were analyzed by means of neutron activation analysis, and the elemental concentrations were determined. A positive matrix factorization (PMF) model was applied to the results obtained for source apportionment. According to the PMF model, five sources were identified: soil dust, aged sea salt, road dust, lignite power plants, and a Mn-rich source. The soil dust source contributed the most to almost all samples (46% of elemental concentrations, on average). Two areas with significant impact from anthropogenic activities were identified. In West Macedonia, the emissions from a lignite power plant complex located in the area have caused high concentrations of Ni, V, Cr, and Co. The second most impacted area was Skouries, where mining activities and vehicular traffic (probably related to the mining operations) led to high concentrations of Mn, Ni, V, Co, Sb, and Cr.
Highlights
Trace elements are dispersed widely in all ecosystems
In order to determine the atmospheric deposition of trace elements, complicated and expensive classical analytical methods are usually required
The overall objective of this research was to study the bioaccumulation of trace elements in mosses of Northern Greece, to identify their sources by applying the positive matrix factorization model, and to establish a Greek database for future studies
Summary
Trace elements are dispersed widely in all ecosystems. They interact with different natural components of the environment and they have a significant impact on the biosphere [1,2,3]. In order to determine the atmospheric deposition of trace elements, complicated and expensive classical analytical methods are usually required. There is another reliable technique that uses living organisms (grass, leaves, pine needles, mosses, and lichens) in order to study the environmental quality and the effects of trace elements on the biosphere [8,9,10,11,12,13]. Over the last few decades, among the different living organisms, mosses are the bioaccumulators that have been widely used for this purpose, as they display very unique characteristics, both morphologically and physiologically [6,14,15]
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