New Results from Air Pollution Studies in Romania

Abstract

Results from the 1999 sampling of the project “Atmospheric Deposition of Heavy Metals in Rural and Urban Areas of Romania Studied by the Moss Biomonitoring Technique Employing Nuclear and Related Analytical Techniques”, carried out under the auspieces of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, are reported. A total of 70 moss samples (Hypnum Cupressiforme) were collected from highly polluted areas in the north-eastern part of Transilvania during the summer of 1999. The samples were analyzed by epithermal neutron activation analysis at the pulsed fast reactor IBR-2 at JINR, Dubna, for a wide range of elements including heavy metals and rare earths (Na, Mg, Al, CI, K, Ca, Sc, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni (by (n,p) reaction), Cu, Zn, As, Se, Br, Rb, Sr, Zr, Mo, Ag, Sn, Sb, I, Cs, Ba, La, Ce, Nb, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Hf, Ta, W, Au, Th, and U). IAEA certified reference materials were used to ensure the quality of the measurements. The regional extent of pollution with specific metals was determined. Like another strongly polluted area — the South Ural Mountains — concentrations of Sb as high as 50 ppm were observed in the vicinity of Cergau m Romania. The results reported are consistent with those obtained in the previous moss-surveys in Romania and also with studies carried out in Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia and other countries.

The investigation has been performed at the Frank Laboratory of Neutron Physics, JINR.