Moss bag biomonitoring of airborne toxic element decrease on a small scale: A street study in Belgrade, Serbia

Abstract

A database of potentially hazardous substances, necessary for estimating the exposure of humans to air pollutants, may be deficient because of a limited number of regulatory monitoring stations. This study was inspired by undeniably harmful effects of human long-term exposure to intense traffic emissions in urban area. Moss bag biomonitors were used to characterize spatial variation of airborne toxic elements near crossroads and two- and one-lane streets. The Sphagnum girgensohnii and Hypnum cupressiforme moss bags were exposed for 10 weeks to 48 sampling sites across Belgrade (Serbia) during the summer of 2014. In addition, oven-drying pretreatment of the moss bags was tested. During the experimental period, traffic flows were estimated at each site by counting the number of vehicles during the rush hours. The concentrations of 39 elements were determined in the moss samples. There was no significant difference between the results obtained for nontreated and oven-dried moss bags. For the majority of elements, the moss bags identified a common pattern of decrease in the concentration from crossroads to two- and one-lane streets. The exposed moss bags were enriched with Sb, Cu and Cr. The correlation coefficients (r=0.65-0.70) between the moss concentrations of Cr, Cu, Fe and Sb and the site-counted traffic flows also confirmed a dependence of the airborne element content on traffic emissions. A strong correlation with traffic flows makes Sb, Cu and Cr reliable traffic tracers.

Keywords: Devitalizing pretreatment; H. cupressiforme; S. girgensohnii; Traffic-related air pollution; Urban area.