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3.1 Introduction
The environmental pollution at hazardous levels for livings presents a global problem and as a macro-case to monitor. Some sub-disciplines occurred with time in
order to consider the realistic environmental conditions. Arguably, the understanding of atmospheric pollution is one of the more emergent areas of the environmental
science. Atmospheric pollution represents solutions or suspensions of minute
amounts of harmful compounds in the air (Vallero 2008). The degree and extent of
environmental changes over the last decades have given a new urgency and relevance for detection and understanding of environmental changes, due to human
activities, which have altered global biogeochemical cycling of heavy metals and
other pollutants (Hock and Seifert 2003; Agarval (2009); Blagnytė and Paliulis
2010; Glukhov and Prokhorova 2011). Monitoring toxic air pollutants is needed for
understanding their spatial and temporal distribution and ultimately to minimise
their harmful effects. In addition to direct physical and chemical methods of air pollution monitoring, bioindication has also been used to evaluate air pollution risk
(Vallero 2008).
Heavy metals present only a part from a plurality of harmful compounds in air.
The degree and extent of metal distribution in the air depend on the emissions’ frequency (Longchurst and Brebbia 2013). However, the higher contents of certain
heavy metals introduced in the air provide hazardous conditions for populations and
environment at all. Air pollution with heavy metals presents a global problem, but
the hot spots occur and influence on local level (Gauderman et al. 2000, 2004;
Harmens et al. 2010). For that issue a double type of monitoring programme should
be applied. The first one should cover the larger areas, locating the hot spots in the
investigating region, and hence the small area where the local emission sources of
heavy metals directly influenced on the local population and its environment.
The goal of this study is to follow eventual impact of the air pollution from the
urban activities and from the thermoelectric power plant REK Bitola in the Bitola
region, North Macedonia, especially fly ash deposited on the fly ash damp site in the
vicinity of the plant and close to the city of Bitola, by using moss biomonitoring.
3.2 Biomonitoring of Air Pollution
Bioindicators include biological processes, species or communities used to assess
the quality of the environment and how it changes over time (Fergusson and Ryan
1984; Aboal et al. 2010). Changes in the environment are often attributed to anthropogenic disturbances (e.g. pollution, land use changes) or natural stressors (e.g.
drought, late spring freeze), although anthropogenic stressors form the primary
focus of bioindicator research. The widespread development and application of bioindicators have occurred primarily since the 1960s (Rühling and Tyler 1968). Over
the years, it was expanded the repertoire of bioindicators to assist in studying all
T. Stafilov et al.
3.1 Introduction
The environmental pollution at hazardous levels for livings presents a global problem and as a macro-case to monitor. Some sub-disciplines occurred with time in
order to consider the realistic environmental conditions. Arguably, the understanding of atmospheric pollution is one of the more emergent areas of the environmental
science. Atmospheric pollution represents solutions or suspensions of minute
amounts of harmful compounds in the air (Vallero 2008). The degree and extent of
environmental changes over the last decades have given a new urgency and relevance for detection and understanding of environmental changes, due to human
activities, which have altered global biogeochemical cycling of heavy metals and
other pollutants (Hock and Seifert 2003; Agarval (2009); Blagnytė and Paliulis
2010; Glukhov and Prokhorova 2011). Monitoring toxic air pollutants is needed for
understanding their spatial and temporal distribution and ultimately to minimise
their harmful effects. In addition to direct physical and chemical methods of air pollution monitoring, bioindication has also been used to evaluate air pollution risk
(Vallero 2008).
Heavy metals present only a part from a plurality of harmful compounds in air.
The degree and extent of metal distribution in the air depend on the emissions’ frequency (Longchurst and Brebbia 2013). However, the higher contents of certain
heavy metals introduced in the air provide hazardous conditions for populations and
environment at all. Air pollution with heavy metals presents a global problem, but
the hot spots occur and influence on local level (Gauderman et al. 2000, 2004;
Harmens et al. 2010). For that issue a double type of monitoring programme should
be applied. The first one should cover the larger areas, locating the hot spots in the
investigating region, and hence the small area where the local emission sources of
heavy metals directly influenced on the local population and its environment.
The goal of this study is to follow eventual impact of the air pollution from the
urban activities and from the thermoelectric power plant REK Bitola in the Bitola
region, North Macedonia, especially fly ash deposited on the fly ash damp site in the
vicinity of the plant and close to the city of Bitola, by using moss biomonitoring.
3.2 Biomonitoring of Air Pollution
Bioindicators include biological processes, species or communities used to assess
the quality of the environment and how it changes over time (Fergusson and Ryan
1984; Aboal et al. 2010). Changes in the environment are often attributed to anthropogenic disturbances (e.g. pollution, land use changes) or natural stressors (e.g.
drought, late spring freeze), although anthropogenic stressors form the primary
focus of bioindicator research. The widespread development and application of bioindicators have occurred primarily since the 1960s (Rühling and Tyler 1968). Over
the years, it was expanded the repertoire of bioindicators to assist in studying all
T. Stafilov et al.