Monitoring of heavy metal concentrations in home outdoor air using moss bags

One monitoring station is insufficient to characterize the high spatial variation of traffic-related heavy metals within cities. We tested moss bags (Hylocomium splendens), deployed in a dense network, for the monitoring of metals in outdoor air and characterized metals' long-term spatial distribution and its determinants in Girona, Spain. Mosses were exposed outside 23 homes for two months; NO(2) was monitored for comparison. Metals were not highly correlated with NO(2) and showed higher spatial variation than NO(2). Regression models explained 61-85% of Cu, Cr, Mo, Pb, Sb, Sn, and Zn and 72% of NO(2) variability. Metals were strongly associated with the number of bus lines in the nearest street. Heavy metals are an alternative traffic-marker to NO(2) given their toxicological relevance, stronger association with local traffic and higher spatial variability. Monitoring heavy metals with mosses is appealing, particularly for long-term exposure assessment, as mosses can remain on site many months without maintenance