Moss biomonitoring of air quality linked with trace metals pollution around a metallurgical complex in Elbasan, Albania

Anthropogenic pollution impacts human and environmental health, climate change, and air quality. Elbasan, an industrial town about 50 km from the capital city of Tirana, is susceptible to environmental contamination as a result of the outdated technology applied in metal processing and metallurgy. Environmental biomonitoring was conducted to provide a comprehensive view of contamination levels in atmospheric deposition as a result of anthropogenic influences. The aim of this study is to evaluate the distribution of toxic metals in the atmospheric deposits in this area. Concentrations of thirteen trace metals were studied by using the passive method of moss biomonitoring. The ground-growing moss samples, Hypnium cupressiforme, were collected during the dry season of June 2021 from 12 sampling sites evenly distributed over the study area. Statistical analysis was used to assess the spatial distribution, concentration levels, variances, and relationships of the trace metals. The knowledge and the obtained statistical data harmonization made it possible to discuss the most probable sources of contaminants. Very strong and significant inter-element correlations were found between Cr, Ni, Co, and Fe. It looks like an anthropogenic association, which is mostly characteristic of air particles emitted from iron-chromium and iron-smelter plants. Together with cement factories, those are the primary emitters of trace metals in the Elbasan area and the primary sources of the deposition of Cr, Ni, Co, and Fe in this area. Substantial impacts were also found from soil dust emissions.