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Using an epiphytic moss to identify previously unknown sources of atmospheric cadmium pollution
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Using an epiphytic moss to identify previously unknown sources of atmospheric cadmium pollution

Geoffrey H. Donovan, Sarah E. Jovan, Demetrios Gatziolis, Igor Burstyn, Yvonne L. Michael, Michael C. Amacher and Vicente J. Monleon
The Science of the total environment, v 559
15 Jul 2016
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.03.182
PMID: 27058127
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
url
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.03.182View
Published, Version of Record (VoR)Open Access (License Unspecified),  Open

Abstract

Arsenic Orthotrichum lyellii Selenium Stained-glass Air Pollution
Urban networks of air-quality monitors are often too widely spaced to identify sources of air pollutants, especially if they do not disperse far from emission sources. The objectives of this study were to test the use of moss bio-indicators to develop a fine-scale map of atmospherically-derived cadmium and to identify the sources of cadmium in a complex urban setting. We collected 346 samples of the moss Orthotrichum lyellii from deciduous trees in December, 2013 using a modified randomized grid-based sampling strategy across Portland, Oregon. We estimated a spatial linear model of moss cadmium levels and predicted cadmium on a 50m grid across the city. Cadmium levels in moss were positively correlated with proximity to two stained-glass manufacturers, proximity to the Oregon–Washington border, and percent industrial land in a 500m buffer, and negatively correlated with percent residential land in a 500m buffer. The maps showed very high concentrations of cadmium around the two stained-glass manufacturers, neither of which were known to environmental regulators as cadmium emitters. In addition, in response to our findings, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality placed an instrumental monitor 120m from the larger stained-glass manufacturer in October, 2015. The monthly average atmospheric cadmium concentration was 29.4ng/m3, which is 49 times higher than Oregon's benchmark of 0.6ng/m3, and high enough to pose a health risk from even short-term exposure. Both stained-glass manufacturers voluntarily stopped using cadmium after the monitoring results were made public, and the monthly average cadmium levels precipitously dropped to 1.1ng/m3 for stained-glass manufacturer #1 and 0.67ng/m3 for stained-glass manufacturer #2. [Display omitted] •Bio-indicators are a valid method for measuring atmospheric pollutants•We used moss to map atmospheric cadmium in Portland, Oregon•Using a spatial linear model, we identified two stained-glass manufacturers as the major sources of atmospheric cadmium in Portland•After both companies suspended cadmium use, atmospheric levels declined precipitously

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42 citations in Web of Science
53 citations in Scopus

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Environmental Sciences
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