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Despite its small size, a moss bag can reveal the different temporal and spatial deposition patterns of pollutants at a particular site; therefore, researchers can use moss bags to determine pollution sources and to put forward strategies for pollution control. Although the use of moss bags to monitor atmospheric pollution has been widely reported in Europe, there are few such empirical studies in China. Thus, in this study, bags containing the moss Sphagnum junghuhnianum were used to assess the concentrations of heavy metals (chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), vanadium (V), and zinc (Zn)) at five sampling sites (four roads and a forest park) during the summer and winter of 2012. According to the relative accumulation factor (RAF) and contamination factor (CF) results, pollution in winter was heavier than that in summer, and Cr was found to be the most contaminating, having the highest mean CF. There was a significant positive correlation (p < 0.05) between traffic volume and concentration for three heavy metals (Cr, Cu, and V) in winter, whereas a significant positive correlation (p < 0.05) was observed between traffic volume and concentrations for four heavy metal elements (Cr, Pb, V, and Zn) in summer, indicating a close relationship between heavy metal contents and traffic volume. Although there was substantial variation in the concentrations of the five heavy metals in the moss bags, significant correlations between heavy metals suggested that the contaminants originated from a common source, namely vehicle emissions. The results demonstrated that the four roads were subject to different degrees of pollution depending on the volume of traffic using each road. Therefore, the results of this study suggest that traffic volume is a major reason for heavy metal pollution.
Rong Hu; Yun Yan; Xiaoli Zhou; Yanan Wang; Yanming Fang. Monitoring Heavy Metal Contents with Sphagnum Junghuhnianum Moss Bags in Relation to Traffic Volume in Wuxi, China. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2018, 15, 374 .
AMA StyleRong Hu, Yun Yan, Xiaoli Zhou, Yanan Wang, Yanming Fang. Monitoring Heavy Metal Contents with Sphagnum Junghuhnianum Moss Bags in Relation to Traffic Volume in Wuxi, China. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2018; 15 (2):374.
Chicago/Turabian StyleRong Hu; Yun Yan; Xiaoli Zhou; Yanan Wang; Yanming Fang. 2018. "Monitoring Heavy Metal Contents with Sphagnum Junghuhnianum Moss Bags in Relation to Traffic Volume in Wuxi, China." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 15, no. 2: 374.
Bryophytes act as bioindicators and bioaccumulators of metal deposition in the environment. To understand the atmospheric deposition of heavy metals (cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), mercury (Hg), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn)) in Taizhou, East China, samples of moss (Haplocladium microphyllum) were collected from 60 sites selected by a systematic sampling method during the summer of 2012, and the concentrations of these heavy metals were determined by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES). The results suggested that the concentrations of these metals varied moderately among different sites, indicating a similar contamination level for each element throughout the monitoring region. The mean values under investigation were higher than those from neighboring cities, such as Wuxi, Xuzhou, and Nanjing, and much higher than those in Europe based on a 2010 survey. Significant (p < 0.01) correlations were identified among some of the heavy metals, suggesting that these originated from identical sources. There was no statistically significant correlation between Hg and all the other elements. Spatial distribution maps of the elements over the sampled territory were created using Arc-GIS 9.0. The potential ecological risk index indicated that the air was heavily polluted by Cd and Hg, and that there was a considerable potential ecological risk from all the heavy metals studied.
Xiaoli Zhou; Qin Chen; Chang Liu; Yanming Fang. Using Moss to Assess Airborne Heavy Metal Pollution in Taizhou, China. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2017, 14, 430 .
AMA StyleXiaoli Zhou, Qin Chen, Chang Liu, Yanming Fang. Using Moss to Assess Airborne Heavy Metal Pollution in Taizhou, China. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2017; 14 (4):430.
Chicago/Turabian StyleXiaoli Zhou; Qin Chen; Chang Liu; Yanming Fang. 2017. "Using Moss to Assess Airborne Heavy Metal Pollution in Taizhou, China." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 14, no. 4: 430.