{"id":226,"date":"2014-06-05T22:34:29","date_gmt":"2014-06-06T05:34:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/sumi\/?p=226"},"modified":"2016-04-15T16:38:36","modified_gmt":"2016-04-15T23:38:36","slug":"ask-the-moss-about-heavy-metals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/sumi\/2014\/06\/05\/ask-the-moss-about-heavy-metals\/","title":{"rendered":"Ask the moss about heavy metals"},"content":{"rendered":"

Surrounded by\u00a0atmospheric scientists at work, I imagine\u00a0this type of equipment for air quality monitoring:<\/p>\n

\"Link<\/a>
An air quality monitoring station. Photo from wikipedia.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Link<\/a>
Air pollutant monitoring equipment by Barnaby Smith \/ Centre for Ecology & Hydrology on Flickr<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

but apparently, moss like these\u00a0–<\/p>\n

\"Link<\/a>
Sphagnum moss. Photo from wikipedia.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

are\u00a0inexpensive and efficient<\/a>\u00a0tools for\u00a0monitoring heavy metals in the atmosphere.<\/p>\n

People have known for a while that moss are able to absorb these pollutants. Norway has a cool map of heavy metal concentrations and the\u00a0changes over the past 40 years<\/a>, all using moss as a source of data. See the map of\u00a0lead<\/a>, for example.<\/p>\n

Plants with roots take up nutrients from the soil, but moss lack roots<\/a> and instead absorb their nutrients directly from the air moisture<\/a>. Moss\u00a0also lack a continuous protective cuticle layer that makes moss tissue more permeable to gas exchange<\/a>. This makes them better indicators of air pollutants.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, some types of moss are very sensitive and the stunted growth or damage on younger leaves are useful \u201cwarning signs\u201d of heavy metal concentrations<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Link<\/a>
Emerald contains beryllium. Photo by Rob Lavinsky.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

New studies test the conditions and types of heavy metals captured by various species of moss and other species in the same bryophyte group<\/a>. By comparing concentrations found in moss to other reference methods, scientists have found that moss can give good predictions of the amount\u00a0of\u00a0lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), chromium (Cr), zinc (Zn), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), cadmium (Cd), cobalt (Co), manganese (Mn), arsenic (As), beryllium (Br), and perhaps other metals that get released into the air. A table of some known indicators can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Link<\/a>
Pure cadmium. Photo from wikipedia.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A study published this year by Olszowski & Bozym<\/a> showed that mosses give more reliable measures of heavy metals than cellulose or cotton wool, and differences in moss responses can distinguish the size of metal particles in the atmosphere.<\/p>\n

Studies can be useful for inducing regional patterns, such as\u00a0in the Canadian High Arctic <\/a>or the Fraser Valley, BC<\/a>, and we can analyze the impact of winds and proximity to emission sources on metal concentrations.<\/p>\n

Even if moss naturally do not grow in an\u00a0area, researchers in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal<\/a> were able to transplant moss species (Taxiphyllum giraldii<\/em> and Thuidium sparsifolium<\/em>) from a clean area to quantify heavy metal concentrations in a polluted area.<\/p>\n

We take in trace amounts of heavy metals naturally<\/a>. Only\u00a0when they get to high concentrations, they can have harmful effects on human health and the environment<\/a>.\u00a0However, they are a common byproduct of solid fuel combustion<\/a>, mining and metallurgical\u00a0industrial activity<\/a>\u00a0that are part of our\u00a0daily lives<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Therefore, the use of moss\u00a0helps monitor the concentrations found in certain areas, and we can catch \u201cwarning signs\u201d before the\u00a0metals released in the atmosphere increase\u00a0to harmful levels.\u00a0Their absorbing properties also guides studies on how\u00a0some types of moss can clean up the waters or prevent heavy metals from leaking into the surrounding environment and into the waters.<\/a>\u00a0Some moss keep absorbing even after its death!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Moss in Nitobe Gardens. Photo by Maki Sumitani.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Surrounded by\u00a0atmospheric scientists at work, I imagine\u00a0this type of equipment for air quality monitoring: but apparently, moss like these\u00a0– are\u00a0inexpensive and efficient\u00a0tools for\u00a0monitoring heavy metals in the atmosphere. People have known for a while that moss are able to absorb these pollutants. Norway has a cool map of heavy metal concentrations and the\u00a0changes over the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21657,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558,8940],"tags":[707545,345943,895542,70614],"class_list":["post-226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology","category-wildlife","tag-air-quality","tag-atmosphere","tag-heavy-metal-pollutants","tag-moss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/sumi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/sumi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/sumi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/sumi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21657"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/sumi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=226"}],"version-history":[{"count":36,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/sumi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":481,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/sumi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226\/revisions\/481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/sumi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/sumi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/sumi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}