Increased content of heavy metals in mosses and European blueberries in mountain areas

This study aimed to evaluate the concentrations of selected heavy metals, including cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb) and zinc (Zn) in two moss species (Pleurozium schreberi (Brid.) Mitt and Polytrichum formosum (Hedw.)) and European blueberries (Vaccinium myrtillus L.) in a mountainous area of southern Poland, including the Sądecki Beskids, near the border with Slovakia. A cable car runs to the summit of Jaworzyna Krynicka (1,114 m), a health resort and a popular tourist and skiing region in Poland. The study also assessed the ability of three plant species to reflect heavy metal deposition. The obtained values provide both an initial reference for the region and an assessment of potential anthropogenic contamination. Comparative analysis with published soil data from the same region indicates that the levels of all tested metals, except cadmium and lead, largely reflect the natural geochemical background, while elevated concentrations of lead and cadmium may indicate anthropogenic sources of these metals in the Jaworzyna Krynicka area. All of the plant species studied accumulated major amounts of zinc in the region of highest altitude (1,100 m above sea level), expressed in µg/g: 77.4 for Pleurozium schreberi; 67.5 for Polytrichum formosum and 53.6 for Vaccinium myrtillus), while cadmium µg/g was the lowest (0.99; 0.91 and 0.34, respectively). These findings broaden the perspective compared to previous studies as they include mountainous areas and plants that are rarely selected for study. The results of the study prescribe measures to monitor heavy metal concentrations in plants and soils of environmentally valuable areas.