Investigate of atmospheric arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead, and mercury levels in moss species found around zilkale, by EDXRF spectrometry

Abstract

Zilkale is a castle located in Firtma Valley and it is one of the most important historical structures in Camlihemsin district of Rize Province in the Black Sea Region of Turkey. the castle surrounded by very high mountains that poke up into the clouds, and it rains here all year round. Tourism businesses or industrial plants are not so much there yet. in recent years, Zilkale region has begun the attract tourist, people on treaking holidays in the Kackar. But many domestic and foreign tourists come to this region by own car or tour buses. the aim of this study is to investigate the atmospheric concentrations of arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead, and mercury levels in five different moss species collected around Zilkale by using Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) Spectrometry. the average concentrations of heavy metals in moss samples ranged from 0.79-4.63 ppm for arsenic, 54.47-143.39 ppm for chromium, 39.97-81.03 ppm for lead. the values of cadmium and mercury were found below the detection limit. This study has shown that Hypnum cupressiforme, Abietinella abietina, Rhytidium rugosum, Plagiomnium undulate, and Thuidium tamariscinum samples collected around Zilkale were used to assess the potential contamination of atmospheric As, Cd, Cr, Pb, Hg contamination in the region and made important contributions toward the understanding of atmospheric As, Cd, Cr, Pb, Hg baseline data can be used for identification of changes in the levels of these heavy metals in the studied area.