Search results for "Moss"

Air Quality during New Year’s Eve: A Biomonitoring Study with Moss

2021

Mosses are one of the best bioindicators in the assessment of atmospheric aerosol pollution by heavy metals. Studies using mosses allow both short- and long-term air quality monitoring. The increasing contamination of the environment (including air) is causing a search for new, cheap and effective methods of monitoring its condition. Once such method is the use of mosses in active biomonitoring. The aim of the study was to assess the atmospheric aerosol pollution with selected heavy metals (Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, Hg and Pb) from the smoke of fireworks used during New Year’s Eve in the years 2019/2020 and 2020/2021. In studies a biomonitoring moss-bag method with moss Pleurozium schreberi (Willd. e…

The influence of preparation methodology on the concentrations of heavy metals in Pleurozium schreberi moss samples prior to use in active biomonitor…

2020

AbstractActive biomonitoring is used to assess environmental pollution of elements such as heavy metals by indicator species such as mosses. They are used, among others, in urbanized areas where no indicator species are found. In such study areas, mosses collected from sites considered to be ecologically clean shall be exposed. In this context, it is very important to prepare the mosses properly before the exposure, so that the information received about the condition of the environment is reliable. In 2018, studies were conducted in the forested areas of southern Poland—in Opolskie Province. Pleurozium schreberi mosses were used in these studies. Atomic absorption spectrometry with flame a…

Trace elements in native and transplanted Fontinalis antipyretica and Platyhypnidium riparioides from rivers polluted by uranium mining.

2017

The past uranium/polymetallic mining activities in the Sudety (SW Poland) left abandoned mines, pits, and dumps of waste rocks with trace elements and radionuclides which may erode or leach out and create a potential risk for the aquatic ecosystem, among others. In the present work four rivers affected by effluents from such mines were selected to evaluate the application of aquatic mosses for the bioindication of 56 elements. Naturally growing F. antipyretica and P. riparioides were compared with transplanted samples of the same species. The results demonstrate serious pollution of the examined rivers, especially with As, Ba, Fe, Mn, Pb, Ti, U and Zn, reaching extremely high concentrations…

The Application of Active Biomonitoring with the Use of Mosses to Identify Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in an Atmospheric Aerosol

2021

The use of biological indicators of environmental quality is an alternative method of monitoring ecosystem pollution. Various groups of contaminants, including organic ones, can be measured in environmental samples. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have not yet been determined by the moss bag technique. This technique uses several moss species simultaneously in urban areas to select the best biomonitoring of these compounds, which are dangerous to humans and the environment. In this research, a gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry was used for the determination of selected PAHs in three species of mosses: Pleurozium schreberi, Sphagnum fallax and Dicranum polysetum (acti…

Sorption of Cadmium and Zinc in Selected Species of Epigeic Mosses

2014

The sorption abilities of seven moss species growing on the area of Bory Stobrawskie forest (southern Poland) were tested in laboratory. Sorption was carried out in solutions of Zn and Cd chlorides. It has been shown that the sorption properties depend on the moss species and increases in the series as follows: Polytrichum commune < Leucobryum glaucum < Eurhynchium praelongum < Thuidium tamtariscifolium ≤ Dicranum scoparium ≤ Pleurozium schreberi < Sphagnum sp. With help of microscope images, it was also demonstrated that one of the factors affecting the sorption properties of mosses was the level of their surface development. The determined sorption capacity of Zn varies according to speci…

A reduction of protein specific motions in co-ligated myoglobin embedded in a trehalose glass

2000

Powder diffraction analysis of gemstone inclusions

2011

Gemstones are pieces of materials that once cut and polished are used as jewels or adornments. Gemstones may be single crystal (such as diamonds), polycrystalline (such as lapis lazuli), or amorphous (such as amber). In any case, gems may have inclusions that may yield a variety of optic effects. It is also important to unravel the crystal structure of the inclusion(s) in order to determine the origin of the gem and to help to understand their formation mechanism. Here, we expand the use of powder diffraction to identify crystalline inclusions in bulk gemstones highlighting Mo Kα radiation to penetrate within compact gems. Initially, rock crystal quartz with rutile needles was investigated …

Illustration of constrained composition statistical methods in the interpretation of radionuclide concentrations in the moss Pleurozium schreberi.

2013

In this work we have used moss Pleurozium schreberi as a bioindicator of radioactive materials in environment. The following radionuclides were determined in moss samples: (137)Cs, (40)K, (210)Pb, (212)Pb, (214)Pb, (214)Bi, (231)Th, (235)U and (228)Ac, but not all of them in each sample. The highest activity concentrations were found for naturally occurring (210)Pb, (40)K and the artificial isotope (137)Cs. Activities of radioisotopes were recalculated into mass concentrations and the statistical methods intended for constrained data processing were used. Analysis of our results showed at most a weak relationship between radioisotope mass concentrations in moss. It was supposed that concent…

The Use of Moss Pleurozium schreberi (Brid.) Mitt. as Bioindicator of Radionuclide Contamination in Industrial Areas of Upper Silesia

2017

Abstract Mosses are good bioaccumulators of radionuclides and from the 60 of the last century, they are used as bioindicators of radioactive contamination in the environment. Concentration of impurities in moss represent the accumulation in mosses during the past 2-3 years. As a result, the moss composition analysis provides information on an average contamination within a few vegetation seasons. During our survey the measurements of radionuclide activity concentrations in P. schreberi transplanted from places relatively clean to heavily contaminated areas of Upper Silesia were carried out. An increase in the radionuclides activity concentrations in P. schreberi transplants may indicate not…

Mosses as biomonitors of atmospheric heavy metal deposition : Spatial patterns and temporal trends in Europe

2010

In recent decades, mosses have been used successfully as biomonitors of atmospheric deposition of heavy metals. Since 1990, the European moss survey has been repeated at five-yearly intervals. Although spatial patterns were metal-specific, in 2005 the lowest concentrations of metals in mosses were generally found in Scandinavia, the Baltic States and northern parts of the UK ; the highest concentrations were generally found in Belgium and south-eastern Europe. The recent decline in emission and subsequent deposition of heavy metals across Europe has resulted in a decrease in the heavy metal concentration in mosses for the majority of metals. Since 1990, the concentration in mosses has decli…