Preliminary enviromagnetic comparison of the moss, lichen, and filter fabric bags to air pollution monitoring

Hanna Salo

doi:10.11143/41354

Abstract

Air quality and anthropogenic air pollutants are usually investigated by passive biomonitoring which utilizes native species. Active biomonitoring, instead, refers to the use of transplants or bags in areas lacking native species. In Finland, the standardized moss bag technique SFS 5794 is commonly applied in active monitoring but there is still need for simpler and labor-saving sample material even on international scale. This article focuses on a preliminary comparison of the usability and collection efficiency of bags made of moss Sphagnum papillosum , lichen Hypogymnia physodes , and filter fabric (Filtrete™) in active biomonitoring of air pollutants around an industrial site in Harjavalta, SW Finland. The samples are analyzed with magnetic (i.e. magnetic susceptibility, isothermal remanent magnetization, hysteresis loop and hysteresis parameters) methods highly suitable as a first-step tool for pollution studies. The results show that the highest magnetic susceptibility of each sample material is measured close to the industrial site. Furthermore, moss bags accumulate more magnetic material than lichen bags which, on the contrary, perform better at further distances. Filter fabric bags are tested only at 1 km sites indicating a good accumulation capability near the source. Pseudo-single-domain (PSD) magnetite is identified as the main magnetic mineral in all sample materials and good correlations are found between different bag types. To conclude, all three materials effectively accumulate air pollutants and are suitable for air quality studies. The results of this article provide a base for later studies which are needed in order to fully determine a new, efficient, and easy sample material for active monitoring.

Highlights

Air quality impacts on the health and well-being of people and environment on all geographical and temporal scales (Fenger 1999)
Biomonitoring is a common way to study air quality and anthropogenic air pollution, and it is defined as the use of organisms and biomaterials to obtain information on certain characteristics of the biosphere (Wolterbeek 2002)
According to Szczepaniak and Biziuk (2003), passive biomonitoring refers to the use of native plants whereas active monitoring includes the exposure of well-defined species as transplants or bags

Summary

Introduction

Air quality impacts on the health and well-being of people and environment on all geographical and temporal scales (Fenger 1999). Biomonitoring is a common way to study air quality and anthropogenic air pollution, and it is defined as the use of organisms and biomaterials to obtain information on certain characteristics of the biosphere (Wolterbeek 2002). Even though lichens and mosses are excellent bioaccumulators and commonly used in biomonitoring since the 1970s (Szczepaniak & Biziuk 2003), they. According to Szczepaniak and Biziuk (2003), passive biomonitoring refers to the use of native plants whereas active monitoring includes the exposure of well-defined species as transplants or bags. The latter exposure method is especially valuable in polluted areas suffering for the absence of native species (i.e. moss or lichen desert). As pointed out by Fernández and Carballeira (2000), native plants may yield results underestimating the deposition of heavy metals because of the possible adaptation of material to its surroundings, and active monitoring is the most accurate method

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