Mosses as bioindicators of radionuclide and metal pollution in northern Kosovo and Metohija mountain region
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Mosses as bioindicators of radionuclide and metal pollution in northern Kosovo and Metohija mountain region Ljiljana Gulan1 · Tatjana Jakšić1 · Biljana Milenkovic2 · Jelena M. Stajic2 · Predrag Vasić1 · Zoran Simić3 · Nenad Zlatić3 Received: 10 April 2020 © Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, Hungary 2020
Abstract The study investigates mosses (Hypnum cupressiforme Hedw.) as bioindicators of pollution in three non-urban mountain areas of northern Kosovo and Metohija regions. Concentrations of radionuclides and metals were measured in moss and soil samples. 137Cs specific activities in soil were strongly correlated with organic matter content. 137Cs in mosses was significantly higher in coniferous than in deciduous forests. 7Be measured in moss samples was increasing with altitude. Concentrations of Ni, Cr, Cu and Zn exceeded regulatory limits in many soil samples from two mountains (Kopaonik and Rogozna). However, concentrations of elements in mosses were weakly correlated with those in soil. Keywords Moss · Soil · Radioactivity · Metal · Enrichment factor · Contamination factor
Introduction Primordial radioactivity related to 238U (226Ra), 235U and 232 Th series and 40K are present in all environments. Due to their long half-lives, these radionuclides are the source of permanent exposure of various biological species. Artificial radionuclide 137Cs occurs in the environment in significant amounts as a consequence of nuclear tests and accidents, particularly the Chernobyl accident; it is radiologically very important due to its half-life of 30.07 years. Production of cosmogenic radionuclide 7Be occurs in spallation processes by cosmic rays in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere; it is partially important in atmospheric transport processes due to relatively short half-life of 53.3 days [1]. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-020-07358-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Jelena M. Stajic [email protected] 1
Faculty of Sciences and Mathematics, University of Priština, Lole Ribara 29, Kosovska Mitrovica 38220, Serbia
2
Institute for Information Technologies, Kragujevac, Department of Science, University of Kragujevac, Jovana Cvijica bb, Kragujevac 34000, Serbia
3
Faculty of Science, University of Kragujevac, Radoja Domanovića 12, Kragujevac 34000, Serbia
Both, radionuclides and metals have a radioecological impact on the biosphere through the food chain since plants mainly absorb nutrients from the soil. Uptake also occurs from soil particles suspended in air, transported by wind and precipitated by rainfall. Metals occur naturally in all soils, waters, and living organisms. Besides, they can be released from fossil fuel combustion, traffic, industrial and residential activities. Several metals are marked as potentially toxic in low concentration; among them Cd, Hg, As, Cr and Pb have strongly toxic properties. They can pose a significant threat to ecosystems and public health
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