Analysis of mosses and topsoils for detecting sources of heavy metal pollution: multivariate and enrichment factor analysis

In order to assess the contribution of emission sources to the pollution of areas remote from industrial facilities, a combined approach of enrichment factor analysis and multivariate statistics was used for detecting the origin of heavy metal pollution in the Zlatibor ecosystem, in Serbia. Samples of moss (Pleurozium schreberi, Hylocomium splendens, Scleropodium purum, Hypnum cupressiforme and Thuidum delicatulum) and of topsoil (0-5 cm) were collected in 2005. The concentrations of seven heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn) were determined in moss and soil samples by atomic absorption spectrometry. The results obtained by enrichment factor analysis and two multivariate statistical methods, principal component analysis and cluster analysis, enabled discrimination of the lithologic and anthropogenic sources of heavy metals in the mosses. Enrichment factors, calculated to evaluate the contribution to the metal content in moss from anthropogenic sources, revealed pollution of the investigated area by Cd and Pb, originating from long-range transport and fossil fuel burning.