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. 2021 Nov 5;10(11):2384.
doi: 10.3390/plants10112384.

Mobile Biomonitoring of Atmospheric Pollution: A New Perspective for the Moss-Bag Approach

Maria Cristina Sorrentino  1 , Fiore Capozzi  1 , Karen Wuyts  2 , Steven Joosen  3 , Valentine K Mubiana  3 , Simonetta Giordano  1 , Roeland Samson  2 , Valeria Spagnuolo  1
Affiliations

Mobile Biomonitoring of Atmospheric Pollution: A New Perspective for the Moss-Bag Approach

Maria Cristina Sorrentino et al. Plants (Basel). .

Abstract

In this work the potential of moving moss-bags, fixed to bicycles, to intercept particulate matter (PM) and linked metal(loid)s was tested for the first time. Seven volunteers carried three moss-bags for fifty days while commuting by bicycle in the urban area of Antwerp, Belgium. Moreover, one bike, equipped with mobile PM samplers, travelled along four routes: urban, industrial, green route and the total path, carrying three moss-bags at each route. The saturation isothermal remanent magnetization (SIRM) signal and chemical composition (assessed by HR-ICP-MS) of the moss samples indicated that the industrial route was the most polluted. Element fluxes (i.e., the ratio between element daily uptake and the specific leaf area) could discriminate among land uses; particularly, they were significantly higher in the industrial route for Ag, As, Cd and Pb; significantly lowest in the green route for As and Pb; and comparable for all accumulated elements along most urban routes. A comparison with a previous experiment carried out in the same study area using similar moss-bags at static exposure points, showed that the element fluxes were significantly higher in the mobile system. Finally, PM2.5 and PM10 masses measured along the four routes were consistent with element fluxes.

Keywords: Hypnum cupressiforme; SIRM; air biomonitoring; elemental pollution.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interest or personal relationship that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Saturation isothermal remanent magnetization (SIRM) value (µA m2 kg−1) of the unexposed moss (BL) and of the proximal (P), middle (M), and distal (D) moss-bags exposed along the cycling routes (see text for explanation of route codes).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Daily SIRM flux (µA d−1) of the exposed moss in the proximal (P), middle (M), and distal (D) bags, calculated as the SIRM of the exposed moss minus the SIRM value of the unexposed moss and normalized by the exposure time and specific leaf area (SLA), for each route (see text for explanation of route codes). Different letters indicate significant (p < 0.05) differences between routes.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Daily deposition flux (µg m−2 d−1) for several accumulated elements measured at each route. Different letters indicate significant differences between routes (p < 0.05).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Daily deposition flux (µg m−2 d−1) for several accumulated elements measured at each route. Different letters indicate significant differences between routes (p < 0.05).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Comparison between fluxes (y axis; µg m−2 d−1) calculated in mosses exposed by bike and in fixed position (n = 21), all in the urban environment of Antwerp. Square: Mean; box: Mean ± SE; Whiskers: Mean± 1.96 ∗ SE. For all the comparisons p < 0.05, according to the t-test for independent samples.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Total element load for each bag position (proximal: P; middle: M; distal: D). Replicas were scored based on their element content between 1 and 3, where 3 represents the highest content and 1 the lowest. The scores of each element were summed to obtain total element load (y axis) and the mean values were compared by ANOVA. * p < 0.05 according to Tuckey’s post-hoc test.
Figure 6
Figure 6
The four routes chosen in the city of Antwerp: (a) Urban route; (b) Industrial area; (c) Green zone; (d) Total path.
Figure 7
Figure 7
The arrangement of the bicycle hosting moss-bags in triplicate. Bag position: proximal—P; middle—M; distal—D.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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