BIOMONITORING OF ATMOSPHERIC DEPOSITION OF HEAVY METALS USING MOSS FROM THREE REGIONS IN ALBANIA

The insidious accumulation of heavy metals over large areas and long periods, resulting in slow damage to living organisms, necessitates careful monitoring of the input, movements and effects of such pollutants. Mosses have demonstrated the ability to absorb and accumulate atmospheric pollutants in tissue, so the moss biomonitoring technique was applied to air pollution studies in our country. Samples of terrestrial mosses Hypnum cupressiforme were collected at 13 sites during October-September 2010 following the the guidelines of the UNECE ICP Vegetation. The elements like aluminum, lead, zinc, copper and cadmium were analysed by ICP-AES technique. Geographical distribution maps of the elements over the sampled territory were constructed using GIS technology. The most contaminated sites with heavy metals resulted to be those with high road traffic, high population density and in the vicinity of different residential and industrial activities.