Sorption of Cadmium and Zinc in Selected Species of Epigeic Mosses

Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, Jan 2014

The sorption abilities of seven moss species growing on the area of Bory Stobrawskie forest (southern Poland) were tested in laboratory. Sorption was carried out in solutions of Zn and Cd chlorides. It has been shown that the sorption properties depend on the moss species and increases in the series as follows: Polytrichum commune < Leucobryum glaucum < Eurhynchium praelongum < Thuidium tamtariscifolium ≤ Dicranum scoparium ≤ Pleurozium schreberi < Sphagnum sp. With help of microscope images, it was also demonstrated that one of the factors affecting the sorption properties of mosses was the level of their surface development. The determined sorption capacity of Zn varies according to species of mosses from 0.0491 to 0.1287 mmol g−1, and in relation to Cd from 0.0319 to 0.1335 mmol g−1. The described results may be important in the process of biomonitoring research design and in the test results interpretation.

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Sorption of Cadmium and Zinc in Selected Species of Epigeic Mosses

Andrzej Kos 0 1 Ewelina Gordzielik 0 1 Magorzata Anna Jozwiak 0 1 Magorzata Rajfur 0 1 0 M. A. Jozwiak Department of Environment Protection and Modelling, Jan Kochanowski University , ul. S 1 A. Kos (&) E. Gordzielik M. Rajfur Opole University , 6 kard. B. Kominka Str., 45-032 Opole, Poland The sorption abilities of seven moss species growing on the area of Bory Stobrawskie forest (southern Poland) were tested in laboratory. Sorption was carried out in solutions of Zn and Cd chlorides. It has been shown that the sorption properties depend on the moss species and increases in the series as follows: Polytrichum commune Leucobryum glaucum Eurhynchium praelongum Thuidium tamtariscifolium B Dicranum scoparium B Pleurozium schreberi Sphagnum sp. With help of microscope images, it was also demonstrated that one of the factors affecting the sorption properties of mosses was the level of their surface development. The determined sorption capacity of Zn varies according to species of mosses from 0.0491 to 0.1287 mmol g-1, and in relation to Cd from 0.0319 to 0.1335 mmol g-1. The described results may be important in the process of biomonitoring research design and in the test results interpretation. Mosses, due to their anatomy and the specific type of nutrition, easily absorb substances contained in atmospheric precipitation. On their surface, in crevices and - bends, they accumulate dust containing macro- and micronutrients, which under favorable conditions dissolve in water that wets the thallus and penetrates its structure. It is estimated that the surface area of Plagiomnium cuspidatum and Taxiphyllum deplanatum mosses in proportion to dry matter is 1.6 m2 g-1 (Darlington et al. 2001). The sorption intensity depends on the type of absorbed substances, including the form in which they occur, size, polarity of molecules or ion charges, and is different for different moss species. The process of cation sorption, based on the ion exchange between the moss thallus and a solution that wets the thallus, is the most known. The ion-exchange process involves several functional groups, including carboxyl groups (COOH), aldehyde groups (CHO), hydroxyl groups (OH) and amino groups (NH2), that form part of cell wall-forming compounds, such as lignin-like phenolic compounds (Sen Gupta et al. 2009). Some authors also point to the possibility of complexing metal ions and the physical adsorption (Ringqvist et al. 2002). Good sorption properties of mosses, their prevalence, simple identification, year-round availability, population stability and high tolerance to pollutants account for the fact that mosses, along with lichens, have become the most widely used material in biomonitoring of the atmospheric aerosol pollution (Wolterbeek 2002; Markert 2007). Biomonitoring research involves inter alia analyses of chemical composition of mosses and/or lichens collected from their natural habitat (Samecka-Cymerman et al. 2006; Kos et al. 2010; 2011). Exposure techniques, involving transfer of the biological material from less polluted areas to urban or industrial areas, are also frequently used (e.g. Kos et al. 2009; Kosior et al. 2010). Since 1990, many European countries have been conducting cyclic (carried out every 5 years) research on trace elements accumulated in mosses. In 2005, 28 countries, including Poland, participated in the program (Harmens et al. 2010). Similar research was conducted in 2000 in the Visegrad Group countries (Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia) (Suchara et al. 2007). Due to a large extent of biomonitoring research, the above studies incorporate various species of mosses having different sorption properties and thus, in the case of comparative studies, false conclusions can often be drawn. The aim of the study was to evaluate the sorption properties of seven species of mosses exposed to the presence of xenobiotic (Cd) and trace element (Zn) and to check if in natural conditions different species of mosses absorb the tested metals in accordance with the proportions experimentally determined in the laboratory. Materials and Methods Mosses: Dicranum scoparium, Eurhynchium praelongum, Leucobryum glaucum, Pleurozium schreberi, Polytrichum commune, Sphagnum sp. i Thuidium tamtariscifolium, occurring in Bory Stobrawskie located 2040 km to the north-west of Opole (Poland) were used in the study. Green parts of mosses were purified from any mechanical impurities and then washed with demineralised water with a conductivity of j = 0.5 lS cm-1. Mosses, dried at 303 K, were stored in sealed plastic containers. One g dry mass (d.m.) samples were used for tests. Each species was placed in a perforated 30 cm3 container. Containers with mosses were placed for 30 min in demineralized water (2 dm3) to remove salts remaining on the moss surface. Then seven containers, with mosses prepared as specified above, were immersed in a 1.4 dm3 solution of salt of the analyzed metal (Zn and Cd separately). During the (...truncated)


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Andrzej Kłos, Ewelina Gordzielik, Małgorzata Anna Jóźwiak, Małgorzata Rajfur. Sorption of Cadmium and Zinc in Selected Species of Epigeic Mosses, Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 2014, pp. 323-328, Volume 92, Issue 3, DOI: 10.1007/s00128-014-1210-0