Is Active Moss Biomonitoring Comparable to Air Filter Standard Sampling?

Paweł Świsłowski, Arkadiusz Nowak, Stanisław Wacławek, Zbigniew Ziembik and Małgorzata Rajfur
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Paweł Świsłowski: Institute of Biology, University of Opole, Oleska St. 48, 45-022 Opole, Poland
Arkadiusz Nowak: Institute of Biology, University of Opole, Oleska St. 48, 45-022 Opole, Poland
Stanisław Wacławek: Institute for Nanomaterials, Advanced Technologies and Innovation, Technical University of Liberec, Studentská St. 1402/2, 461 17 Liberec, Czech Republic
Zbigniew Ziembik: Institute of Environmental Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Opole, B. Kominka St. 6a, 45-032 Opole, Poland
Małgorzata Rajfur: Institute of Environmental Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Opole, B. Kominka St. 6a, 45-032 Opole, Poland

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 8, 1-16

Abstract: Recently, significant attention has been paid to air quality awareness and its impact on human health, especially in urban agglomerations. Many types of dust samplers for air quality monitoring are used by governmental environmental monitoring agencies. However, these techniques are associated with high costs; as a consequence, biological methods such as active moss biomonitoring are being developed. The main disadvantages of such techniques are the lack of standardization of the preparation procedures and the lack of reliable comparisons of results with data from instrumental analyses. Our study aimed to compare the results obtained from active biomonitoring with the use of three moss species: Pleurozium schreberi , Sphagnum fallax and Dicranum polysetum. Samples were exposed via the moss-bag technique to measure the concentrations of analytes (Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Cd, Hg and Pb) which had accumulated among the total suspended particulates (TSP) collected from the filters of a dust collector in the city of Opole (Opole voivodeship, Poland). With regard to the physicochemical and biological traits of the mosses, their assessed lifetime and actual photochemical efficiency (yield) following exposure were meagre, which may have been related to the change of environment and their exposure to pollutants. When comparing the results obtained by the two methods used to monitor air pollution, the biomonitoring method was found to be incompletely consistent with the reference method. Biological monitoring using mosses must be carefully considered depending on the monitoring objectives, the required level of sensitivity and quality of measurement and the type of pollutant.

Keywords: mosses; total suspended particulate (TSP); heavy metals; biomonitoring (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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