Multi-elements atmospheric deposition study in Albania

Abstract

The NERC and CEH trademarks and logos ('the Trademarks') are registered trademarks of NERC in the UK and other countries, and may not be used without the prior written consent of the Trademark owner. As, and Cu. Cluster and Factor analysis with Varimax Rotation was applied to distinguish elements mainly of 20 anthropogenic origin from those predominantly originating from natural sources. Geographical distribution maps 21 of the elements over the sampled territory were constructed using GIS technology. The median values of the 22 elements in moss samples of Albania were high for Al, Cr, Ni, Fe and V and low for Cd, Cu and Zn compared to 23 the many other European countries, but generally were of a similar level as some of the neighbouring countries 24 such as Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia and Romania. This study was conducted in the framework of ICP 25Vegetation in order to provide a reliable assessment of air quality throughout Albania and to produce 26 information needed for better identification of contamination sources and improving the potential for assessing 27 environmental and health risks in Albania, associated with toxic metals. 28 29

First survey of atmospheric heavy metal deposition in Kosovo using moss biomonitoring

“…The measured values were in good agreement with the recommended values. The certified and obtained data of the analyzed elements in certified reference moss samples M2 and M3 were reported in the previous study (Qarri et al, 2013). The AAS measured concentrations of the elements were in good agreement with the ICP-AES values (Table 1).…”

“…Cr and Pb are associated with the third (C3) and the fourth (C4) category of contamination scale, described as slightly and moderately polluted scale. Even thought the complex geologic settings of Kosovo and high mineral activity of Pb-Zn, Cu, Ni and Cr positioned in different parts of the territory (Durmishaj 2012), the CF values were lower than those reported for Albania (Qarri et al 2013). It is probably associated with the high percentage of land use (Arcotrass et al 2006), and forest area in Kosovo, that is the main factor of decreasing the wind blowing soil dust content.…”

“…To prevent any contamination of the samples, sampling and sample handling was performed using disposable polyethylene gloves. A more detailed description of sampling procedure is given in moss survey sampling manual (Harmens et al 2010a) and in our previous publications (Qarri et al 2013, Bekteshi et al 2015. The systematic sampling scheme with a homogeneous distribution among 25 sampling sites with equal densities (1.5 moss samples/1000 km 2 is recommended (Harmens et al, 2010;Qarri et al, 2014a).…”

“…Beside it, a control moss sample (H.cupressiforme sp.) collected in Albania (Alb-17, ICP Vegetation Programme, Moss survey 2010), N40 12 31; E19 35 07, was analyzed by two different methods, AAS and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) (Qarri et al 2013). The quality control for the ICP-AES results was checked by multiple analyses of the examined samples and certified moss reference materials M2 and M3 (Steinnes et al, 1997;Harmens et al, 2010).…”

“…The PLI values vary from 0 (unpolluted) to higher than 5 (extremely polluted) as follows (Zhang et al 2011): PLI = 0 background concentration; 0 <PLI<1 unpolluted; 1 < PLI<2 moderately to unpolluted; 2 < PLI < 3 moderately polluted; 3 < PLI < 4 moderately to highly polluted; 4 < PLI < 5 highly polluted; PLI > 5 extremely polluted. Several multivariate data analysis techniques have been applied to atmospheric data (Wiedensohler et al 1996;Statheropoulos et al 1998, Astel et al 2008, Viet et al 2010, Baceva et al 2013. Multivariate data analysis is a powerful tool to investigate multivariate and complex data sets by revealing trends and relationships of these parameters.…”