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Urban Source Apportionment of Potentially Toxic Elements in Thessaloniki Using Syntrichia Moss Biomonitoring and PMF Modeling

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Pubblicato in:Environments vol. 12, no. 6 (2025), p. 188-213
Autore principale: Sfetsas Themistoklis
Altri autori: Sopio, Ghoghoberidze, Karnoutsos Panagiotis, Tziakas Vassilis, Karagiovanidis Marios, Katsantonis Dimitrios
Pubblicazione:
MDPI AG
Soggetti:
Greece
Quality management
Pollutants
Public health
Biomonitoring
Toxicity
Emissions
Modelling
Vehicle emissions
Air quality
Air pollution
Winter
Contamination
Outdoor air quality
Statistical analysis
Tourism
Pollution sources
Statistical models
Seasonal variations
Quality assessment
Pollution load
Mosses
Quality control
Air quality assessments
Effectiveness
Urban areas
Pollution index
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Abstract:Urban air pollution from potentially toxic elements (PTEs) presents a critical threat to public health and environmental sustainability. The current study employed Syntrichia moss in a passive biomonitoring capacity to ascertain the levels of atmospheric PTE pollution in Thessaloniki, Greece. A comprehensive collection of 192 moss samples was undertaken at 16 urban sampling points over the March–July 2024 period. Concentrations of 21 PTEs were quantified using ICP-MS, and contamination levels were assessed through contamination factor (CF), enrichment factor (EF), and pollution load index (PLI). Positive matrix factorization (PMF) modeling and multivariate statistical analyses were used to identify pollution sources and spatiotemporal variations. Results revealed persistent hotspots with significant anthropogenic enrichments of elements, such as Fe, Mn, Sn in industrial zones and Tl, Ce, Pt in traffic corridors. PMF modeling attributed 48% of the measured PTE variance to traffic-related sources, 35% to industrial sources, and 17% to crustal material. Seasonal transitions showed a significant 3.5-fold increase in Tl during summer, indicating elevated traffic-related emissions. This integrated multi-index and source apportionment framework demonstrates the efficacy of Syntrichia moss for high-resolution urban air quality assessment. The approach offers a cost-effective, scalable, and environmentally friendly tool to support EU-aligned air quality management strategies.
ISSN:2076-3298
DOI:10.3390/environments12060188
Fonte:Publicly Available Content Database