Study of moss as air pollution monitor by SRXRF technique

In order to explore the mechanism of moss as air pollution biomonitor, the moss samples were exposed in a pollution site of Shanghai Institute of Steel Research (SISR) and a control site of Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics (SIAP) simultaneously for one month. The concentrations of trace elements in the micro areas of leaf and stem, as well as in the whole moss tissue, were determined using synchrotron radiation X-ray fluorescence (SRXRF) method. The distributions of some metal elements such as Pb, Cu, Fe, Ni, Mn, Zn, Ca and K in the leaf surface and the stem slice were obtained. The results showed that the metallic ions were not evenly distributed after adsorption. In particular, some elements of K, Ni, Fe, Pb, etc., were concentrated in the leaf apex and the intermediate rib. Under pollution condition, the excessive Pb was adsorbed and deposited in the leaf. It caused serious damage to plant growth and ultrastructure, also suppressed moss’ normal absorption to the nutritive elements of K, Ca, etc.