Mosses as bioindicators of indoor air pollution
(1) Institute of Biology, University of Opole, Opole, Poland
Air pollution is one of the major problems, because it affects not only the world of fauna and flora, but also people themselves. A quick, cheap, and easy way to study the state of the environment is to use bioindicators - living organisms that indicate the level of environmental pollution. The objective of these studies were to evaluate indoor air pollution (IAP) in using three moss species: Pleurozium schreberi, Sphagnum fallax and Dicranum polysetum. The experiments involved the analysis of air pollution by selected elements during the activity of a car workshop, pollutions from tiled and coal stoves, and the comparison of pollution from the smoke of different tobacco products. The presented examples indicate the importance of measuring and controlling vital parameters of mosses (e.g., chlorophyll content, photosynthetic activity) during exposure in order to be able to talk about bioindicators - living organisms indicating air quality. The influence of exposure conditions and environmental factors most influences the quality of the result in biomonitoring studies. On the other hand, human activity (based on the practical examples above) indicates the importance of performing biomonitoring studies analyzing air quality. We have shown that of the three species analyzed, P. schreberi moss is the most suitable for monitoring indoor air pollution, until now. It works well with several months of exposure to study IAP. It is resistant to changing exposure conditions and retains its viability under environmental stress. The moss S. fallax, due to its peat characteristics and the need to function in a moist environment, should only be used in places where it will have adequate access to water. D. polysetum, on the other hand, should be included in biomonitoring studies for monitoring mercury pollution, where it is the best accumulator of this element compared to other species.
Keywords: mosses, bioindicators, active biomonitoring, heavy metals, vitality, indoor air pollution
