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Potentially toxic elements and microplastics in mosses around the industrial zone of Obiliq in the Republic of Kosovo
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Researchers used moss plants as natural air pollution collectors near a Kosovo industrial zone powered by lignite coal and found extremely high levels of toxic metals like lead, nickel, and chromium, along with microplastic fibers and fragments up to 3 mm in size. The data points to lignite mining and power plants as major sources of both heavy metal and microplastic air contamination in the region.
The aim of this study was to examine the presence of chemical elements and microplastics in the air of the Obiliq industrial zone in Kosovo by using mosses as bioindicators.Moss samples were collected in 7 locations, the moss samples were digested in Teflon tubes by using HNO 3 and H 2 O 2 , and then 18 chemical elements analyzed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy.For determination of microplastics in mosses samples, 1 gram per each sample were digested by using Fenton reagent (ferrous iron sulphate solution 0.05 M) in the catalytic wet peroxide oxidation method.A multivariate statistical methods were applied to provide a clearer interpretation of the data.The mean value of Contamination Factor (CF) for potentially toxic elements, revealed extremely high levels of pollution for Pb (326.44),Ni (18.99),Cr (17.99),Co (17.24),As (6.55) Cu (2.26), Fe (2.18), and Cd (1.90).The pollution load index (PLIsite) ranged from 6.11 to 12.25, and the PLI of a whole zone investigated was 9.13.In each mosses samples we identified the fibers and fragments of microplastics with dimensions from 250-3000 m.These data of chemical elements and microplastics, indicating a significant of anthropogenic impact, as a result of the lignite mines and lignite power plants Kosova A and Kosova B in Kastriot, located in this area, and also the ferronickel open mines in Golesh, and heavy traffic in Pristina city has a huge impact on air pollution with toxic elements.
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