Atmospheric metal deposition in France:: initial results on moss calibration from the 1996 biomonitoring

The 1996 biomonitoring, set up by Pierre and Marie Curie University (Paris Vt) and ADEME (French Agency for the Environment and Energy Management), aims at obtaining information on the atmospheric deposition of 36 elements (most being heavy metals) all over France, using five common mosses as bioaccumulators: Pleurozium schreberi, Hylocomium splendens, Hypnum cupressiforme, Scleropodium purum and Thuidium tamariscinum. The French data regarding 10 metals were incorporated into the 1995-1996 survey of the European programme on atmospheric heavy metal deposition in Europe. The sampling of various species performed for the 1996 survey in France poses a number of problems of interpretation. Data are still being analyzed, using both ICP-MS (Inductively Coupled Plasma, Mass Spectrometry) and INAA (Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis). Results from part of the samples and for some elements measured by INAA are presented in this paper. The results from moss species found in the same sites (Ile-de-France area) are reported for As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, V and Zn (INAA results). This preliminary study shows that interspecies calibration is possible for moss samples from the 1996 French biomonitoring study, for As, Fe and V (Pleurozium schreberi and Hypnum cupressiforme) and for Zn (Hypnum cupressiforme and Scleropodium purum). However, saturation effects in one species may be present when intercalibration between species is not possible. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.