Chapter 1
Introduction
Pranvera Lazo, Flora Qarri, Shaniko Allajbeu, Sonila Kane, Lirim Bekteshi,
Marina Frontasyeva, and Trajce Stafilov
Air pollution is a global problem and has negative effects on human, animal and plant
health (Kanawade et al. 2010). Environmental pollution in a global scale is caused by
the presence of different toxic chemicals, including different toxins, inorganic and/or
organic chemicals, and is strongly linked with their content in the environment.
Humans could be exposed to different metals via different pathways such as air
and air dust, drinking water and the food chain (Belzile et al. 2011). The increased
circulation of toxic metals through the soils, water and air and their inevitable transfer
to the human food chain remains an important environmental issue which entails
some unknown health risks for future generations (Nriagu and Pacyna 1988). Health
concerns could be increased in locations where metals concentrations get higher.
Trace metals (TM) are a group of inorganic pollutants that occur naturally in soil
and minerals, and may enter the air through different pathways. Beside the natural
sources, ore and metal processing, manufacturing, combustion processes of fuels
and transport sectors are considered as the main anthropogenic emission sources of
metals in the air (Nriagu and Pacyna 1988; Nriagu 1989; Duffus 2002; Harmens et al.
2011). The main emission sources of trace metals in the air are mostly the ore and
metal processing, and manufacturing, as well as combustion processes (Duffus 2002).
Atmospheric input from wet and dry deposition of 40 trace elements in Mediterranean
basin is primarily originating from industrial emission and the resuspension from the
Saharian dust, while the combustion of fossil fuels and the emission from the primary
and secondary non-ferrous metal smelters represent the major sources of Pb, Ni, Cu,
Cd and V in global scale (Pirrone et al. 1999).
On the other hand, the anthropogenic activities, such as energy production, transport, industrial processes, agriculture, and waste management, emit different gaseous
and particulate pollutants that are responsible for the degradation of the air quality
and climate changes (Maione et al. 2016). Atmospheric transport and the deposition rate are principal factors in determining the spatial distribution and the pollution
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
P. Lazo et al., The Evaluation of Air Quality in Albania by Moss Biomonitoring and Metals
Atmospheric Deposition, SpringerBriefs in Environmental Science,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62355-5_1
1
Introduction
Pranvera Lazo, Flora Qarri, Shaniko Allajbeu, Sonila Kane, Lirim Bekteshi,
Marina Frontasyeva, and Trajce Stafilov
Air pollution is a global problem and has negative effects on human, animal and plant
health (Kanawade et al. 2010). Environmental pollution in a global scale is caused by
the presence of different toxic chemicals, including different toxins, inorganic and/or
organic chemicals, and is strongly linked with their content in the environment.
Humans could be exposed to different metals via different pathways such as air
and air dust, drinking water and the food chain (Belzile et al. 2011). The increased
circulation of toxic metals through the soils, water and air and their inevitable transfer
to the human food chain remains an important environmental issue which entails
some unknown health risks for future generations (Nriagu and Pacyna 1988). Health
concerns could be increased in locations where metals concentrations get higher.
Trace metals (TM) are a group of inorganic pollutants that occur naturally in soil
and minerals, and may enter the air through different pathways. Beside the natural
sources, ore and metal processing, manufacturing, combustion processes of fuels
and transport sectors are considered as the main anthropogenic emission sources of
metals in the air (Nriagu and Pacyna 1988; Nriagu 1989; Duffus 2002; Harmens et al.
2011). The main emission sources of trace metals in the air are mostly the ore and
metal processing, and manufacturing, as well as combustion processes (Duffus 2002).
Atmospheric input from wet and dry deposition of 40 trace elements in Mediterranean
basin is primarily originating from industrial emission and the resuspension from the
Saharian dust, while the combustion of fossil fuels and the emission from the primary
and secondary non-ferrous metal smelters represent the major sources of Pb, Ni, Cu,
Cd and V in global scale (Pirrone et al. 1999).
On the other hand, the anthropogenic activities, such as energy production, transport, industrial processes, agriculture, and waste management, emit different gaseous
and particulate pollutants that are responsible for the degradation of the air quality
and climate changes (Maione et al. 2016). Atmospheric transport and the deposition rate are principal factors in determining the spatial distribution and the pollution
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
P. Lazo et al., The Evaluation of Air Quality in Albania by Moss Biomonitoring and Metals
Atmospheric Deposition, SpringerBriefs in Environmental Science,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62355-5_1
1