Atmospheric deposition of heavy metals in Romania studied by the moss biomonitoring technique employing nuclear and related analytical techniques and GIS technology

This is the first systematic study of air pollution from heavy metals and other trace elements throughout several industrialized areas and national parks of Eastern Romanian Carpathians using the moss biomonitoring technique. Samples of Hylocomium splendens collected at 120 sites were analyzed by epithermal neutron activation analysis at the pulsed fast reactor IBR-2 at JINR, Dubna, for a wide range of elements including heavy metals and rare earths (Na, Mg, Al, Cl,K, Ca, Sc, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni (by (n,p) reaction), Cu, Zn, As, Se, Br, Rb, Sr, Zr, Mo, Ag, Sn, Sb, I, Cs, Ba, La, Ce, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd. Tb, Yb, Hf, Ta, W, Au, Th, and U). Copper, lead and cadmium were determined by AAS. Certified Reference Standards of mosses produced for interlaboratory comparisons in the European moss-survey 1995 were used to ensure the quality of the measurements. To present results in the form of coloured contour maps the geographical information system GIS-INTEGRO was used. The regional extent of pollution with specific metals was determined. Results reported are well consistent with those obtained in numerous recent projects carried out in Germany, the Netherlands, Poland Bulgaria and other countries.