Comparison of different multielement techniques for analysis of mosses used as biomonitors

Mosses are used as biomonitors on a regular basis to study trends in the atmospheric deposition of trace elements in Norway. In this paper the analytical scheme used so far, based on a combination of instrumental neutron activation analysis and atomic absorption spectrometry (INAA/AAS) is compared with inductively coupled plasma emission spectrometry (ICP-ES) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). ICP-ES provided satisfactory data for nearly 20 elements, but detection limits were inadequate for some elements of importance. For ICP-MS quantitative data were obtained for 33 elements including the heavy metals of key interest in air pollution studies. In most cases where comparison was possible the ICP-MS data compared favourably with data obtained by the reference scheme or by ICP-ES. On the basis of this study ICP-MS is considered to be an equivalent alternative to INAA/AAS in multielement studies using mosses as biomonitors. In addition ICP-MS offers some promise for the study of elements such as Be, Ga, Mo, Te, Tl, and Bi, for which very little information exists regarding their behaviour as air pollutants.