Heavy metal depositions in Austria (collection 2000)

The report of the Federal Environment Agency examines the concentrations of 13 toxicologically relevant metals and sulphur in moss and concludes their entry from the atmosphere. Regionally elevated values of individual elements can be found in the Rhine Valley, the Unterinntal, in the Pannonian region, around Treibach-Althofen, Leoben-Donawitz and Reutte. The deposition of lead, molybdenum and cadmium has decreased slightly from mercury, vanadium and nickel. An increase is particularly noticeable in copper and cobalt. The analysis of 7 industrial regions also showed increased values for some metals, while the Linz area has a relatively low deposition of metals for an industrial region. The report is a contribution to the monitoring of the ICP vegetation as part of the UN ECE Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution.