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Multi-elements atmospheric deposition study in Albania

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Abstract

For the first time, the moss biomonitoring technique and inductively coupled plasma–atomic emission spectrometric (ICP-AES) analytical technique were applied to study multi-element atmospheric deposition in Albania. Moss samples (Hypnum cupressiforme) were collected during the summer of 2011 and September–October 2010 from 62 sites, evenly distributed over the country. Sampling was performed in accordance with the LRTAP Convention–ICP Vegetation protocol and sampling strategy of the European Programme on Biomonitoring of Heavy Metal Atmospheric Deposition. ICP-AES analysis made it possible to determine concentrations of 19 elements including key toxic metals such as Pb, Cd, As, and Cu. Cluster and factor analysis with varimax rotation was applied to distinguish elements mainly of anthropogenic origin from those predominantly originating from natural sources. Geographical distribution maps of the elements over the sampled territory were constructed using GIS technology. The median values of the elements in moss samples of Albania were high for Al, Cr, Ni, Fe, and V and low for Cd, Cu, and Zn compared to other European countries, but generally were of a similar level as some of the neighboring countries such as Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania. This study was conducted in the framework of ICP Vegetation in order to provide a reliable assessment of air quality throughout Albania and to produce information needed for better identification of contamination sources and improving the potential for assessing environmental and health risks in Albania, associated with toxic metals.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank MSc. Jani Marka, Department of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Tirana, for supervising the sampling procedure and moss species identification. We would like to thank the Ph.D. students, Ilva Gjika and Majlinda Terpo, who were involved in the sampling, respectively, at Tirana area and Saranda, Gjirokastra, Tepelena, and Permet area. Harry Harmens would like to thank the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) for the continued financial support of the ICP Vegetation (Contract AQ0816). The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) are also thanked for contributions to the funding of the ICP Vegetation Programme Coordination Centre.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, University of Vlora, Vlora, Albania

    Flora Qarri

  2. Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Tirana, Tirana, Albania

    Pranvera Lazo & Lirim Bekteshi

  3. Institute of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Sts. Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje, Macedonia

    Trajce Stafilov & Katerina Baceva

  4. Frank Laboratory of Neutron Physics, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Dubna, Russia

    Marina Frontasyeva & Zoya Goryainova

  5. Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Bangor, United Kingdom

    Harry Harmens

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  1. Flora Qarri
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  2. Pranvera Lazo
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  4. Marina Frontasyeva
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Correspondence to Pranvera Lazo.

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Qarri, F., Lazo, P., Stafilov, T. et al. Multi-elements atmospheric deposition study in Albania. Environ Sci Pollut Res 21, 2506–2518 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-013-2091-1

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