Search

The concentrations of particulate matter and Fe in airborne particulate matter and transplanted moss were investigated to evaluate the air quality of Tirana city. It was carried out in the summer of 2021 and the winter of 2020-2021. Particulate matter of various sizes (PM2.5 and PM10) was collected on Teflon-coated glass fibre filters. Fe was determined in PMs and moss transplants, the last were exposed for two months at the same monitoring site as PMs. The measurements were carried out in areas with heavy traffic during the summer under relatively high air temperatures, up to 23° C, which can affect the high concentrations of solid particles in the air and therefore high Fe levels. Statistical analysis was used to discuss the results of particulate matter and iron in solid particles and moss. A higher concentration of Fe was found in total suspended particles (TSP) and a lower concentration in smaller particles. The concentration data were compared with the recommended values in the European Directives. The concentrations of all parameters under investigation were higher than the permitted ones for rural and residential areas and lower than the recommended values for industrial areas. Correlation analysis revealed high and significant correlations (R > 0.8, p < 0.05) between Fe concentrations in moss transplants and particulate matter, showing a high effect of particulate matter on airborne Fe. It may increase human exposure through inhalation and lead to harmful health problems. This requires stronger measures to improve air quality in the city.

This study addresses the atmospheric deposition of trace elements investigated in Albania, Croatia and Macedonia in 2010 as part of the European Moss Study. This study provides data on the concentration of ten metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, V, Zn, Fe, Al, and Li) in naturally growing mosses. In general, all concentration data follow a lognormal distribution. Cd, Cr, Ni, and Zn show strong fluctuations in the moss samples from Albania and Macedonia, and Pb, Fe, and Al in the mosses from Croatia. The concentrations of Cd, Cu, and Zn were higher in the samples from Croatia than in those from Albania and Macedonia; the concentrations of Cr, Ni, V, Fe, Al, and Li were higher in the samples from Albania than in those from Croatia and Macedonia; and a higher concentration of Pb was found in the samples from Macedonia. The observed relationship between the concentration of lithogenic elements (Al, Fe, and V) and the air quality index (AQI) confirms that moss species have a high capacity to retain atmospheric deposition particles. The anthropogenic emission sources of these elements from local and long-range transport were considered to be the most important factors affecting air quality in the studied areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Materials Protection (0351-9465) is the property of Engineers Society for Corrosion Republic of Serbia, Belgrade and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Since 2010, Albania had contributed to the data onto the European moss survey (EMS), which is repeated at five-yearly intervals. It was announced in 2020 that the planned moss survey for 2020/2021 was extended for 2022 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and now the samples are in process of analysis. So this study was conducted in the framework of 2010 ICP Vegetation in order to determine anthropogenic pollution from trace metals (Cr, Co, Fe, and Ni) that pose risk to human health, also to provide an assessment of air quality throughout Albania. The representative Hypnum cupressiforme (Hedv.) moss samples were collected from 47 sites in accordance with the long-range transboundary air pollution (LRTAP) Convention-ICP Vegetation protocol and sampling strategy of the European program on biomonitoring heavy metal atmospheric deposition during the relatively dry periods of October-November 2010 and June-July 2011. Metals concentrations were determined by induced coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES). The quality assurance was checked by moss reference materials, M2 and M3. We tried to identify and assess the most polluted areas and the pollution sources. The concentration data were statistically processed by using descriptive statistics, and spatial analysis to understand spatial and temporal variability, the relationship between the elements in moss was tested by Pearson correlation analysis and factor analysis (FA) to assess the most probable pollution sources. Significant variations were detected in the concentration data of the elements. Factor analysis in combination with the inventory of emission sources, and chemical properties of the elements made possible the identification of the sources. The main pollution source was pointed from soil dust particles, and the anthropogenic inputs originated from mining, metal high-temperature processing, vehicle emissions, waste incineration, etc. The sequence of the distribution of elements in moss samples was Fe > Cr > Ni > Co. Significant variations were detected in the concentration data of the elements (except Fe). Two dominant factors were identified representing elements Cr, Ni, and Co from chromium industry and wind-blown mineral dust particles (F1); and F2 is composed by high Fe loadings as a typical crustal element. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vlora Bay is one of the most important coastal zones of Albania, as it constitutes resources of high ecological and economic values for the country. Unfortunately, this area has suffered from the significant population growth and increase of human activities in recent years. The most delicate phenomena of the contamination of marine coastal waters are the heavy metal pollution from industrial and urban discharges and/or emission. Some metals, present in trace quantity, are essential for aquatic life. But when they exceed certain limits they may be a concern for the aquatic organisms due to their toxic effects, especially in fishes. Aquatic organisms absorb the pollutants directly from water and indirectly from food chains. The aim of this study was to determine the heavy metal content in sea water of Vlora bay and to evaluate their impact on aquatic life. For this purpose, seawater samples were collected according to a network of six sampling points. Total dissolved heavy metal content was determined by furnace - Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) (Cu, Pb, Zn, Hg, Cr and Cd) and Cold Vapor-AAS (Hg), known as a very sensitive analytical method. It was found that the main sources of heavy metals in sea water of Vlora Bay are: the traffic exhaust, soil and re-suspended road dust, the discharges from the delta of Vjosa River, discharges (in the past) of some industrial activities, untreated urban and rural wastes discharged in the sea and the harbor activities. In general, their content in sea water of Vlora Bay, resulted in normal levels, with an order of distribution as follows: Hg < Cr < Cd < Pb < Cu < Zn. Based in heavy metal concentration and in standards for the protection of seawater life, the seawater of Vlora Bay is quite good. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents an assessment of marine water quality in beaches along Vlora Bay, as important areas for recreation and tourism in Albania, based on physical-chemical parameters and nutrient content (nitrites, nitrates, and phosphates). Changes in the physico-chemical characteristics such as pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen (DO), biological oxygen demand (BOD), particulate material (TSS), etc. and nutrients give information on the quality of the water, the source(s) of the variations and their impacts on the functions and biodiversity of the water body. For this purpose, parameters such as pH, temperature, Electrical Conductivity (EC), salinity, dissolved oxygen (DO), biological oxygen demand (BOD), total suspended solids (TSS), total dissolved solids (TDS) and nutrients (N/NO 2--, N/NO 3--, P/PO 4 ³--) were determined in eight water samples collected in beaches along Vlora Bay (in citty of Vlora). Although physico-chemical parameters, including dissolved oxygen (DO), and nutrients resulted in normal levels, it is recommended to strengthen the measures that could be taken to reduce the level of urban discharges near the coastal area of the beach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental problems in Albania have been increased during the last decades as the result of the transformations in the urban and rural areas, particularly in industry, construction, and agricultural activities. This process is followed by an increase in the emission level of different pollutants to the environment that are directly affect the quality of water bodies, including the quality of rivers' water. Several studies have been conducted in recent years in Albania to assess and evaluate the water quality of various rivers based on chemical, physical, and biological parameters. An important component of the biological assessments is the study of benthic organisms, diatoms and benthic macro-invertebrates. The data collected from the analysis of benthic macro-invertebrates have been used in this study to determine the biotic indexes (expressed in numerical values), which directly reflect the quality of rivers' water. This study presents the stages for setting up the BlueQ application for automatic calculation of four biotic indices and its functioning based on current results of the ecological assessment of Shkumbini River. The methodology used to develop the application is a prototype methodology usually used in software development when the requirements are not clear since the beginning for the software building team. The BlueQ application was build based on the characteristics of river macro-zoobenthos parameters. This application could facilitate the work of young researchers, volunteers, and environmental experts who deal with the bio-ecological study of the rivers. Through this application, an optimization in the time and the quality in the processing of biological data is achieved. The biologists and environmental scientists can add data to the final application, created using the Shkumbini River data, and automatically could monitor and measure the water quality of the rivers of interest. Many computer applications have already been built by international environmental agencies enabling fast data processing based on benthic macro-invertebrates. Such applications that facilitate data processing and increase the quality of the work for river water quality assessment are lacking in Albania. The BlueQ application is the first application in Albania to support the rapid processing of data on river water quality based on the composition of macro-zoobenthos, which can be used even more widely in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Moss biomonitoring and induced plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) was applied to study Cr and Ni atmospheric deposition in Albania. Moss samples Hypnum cupressiforme (Hedw) spp. were collected from 55 sites during the summer of 2015 in accordance with the LRTAP Convention - ICP Vegetation protocol and sampling strategy of the European Programme on Biomonitoring of Heavy Metal Atmospheric Deposition. The statistical analysis was applied to investigate the concentration level, the variation and the distribution of both elements over the entire territory of the country. The concentration level of Cr and Ni in moss samples of Albania expressed by median concentration of 55 moss samples, are compared with the respective medians of Balkan countries, and of selected European countries. The elements Cr and Ni are included in the European program of moss biomonitoring. It was found that the median values of these elements in Albania were generally higher than the respective median values observed in Europe and Balkan countries. Lower content of Cr and Ni were found in the coastline area of Albania compared with the inland area. The aim of this study is the assessment of the air quality throughout Albania and the identification of their pollution sources to produce information needed for better environmental management. The data may help the policy makers to improve the strategy for a clean environment in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]