Heavy metal depositions in Austria (2000 collection)

The report of the Federal Environment Agency examines the concentrations of 13 toxicologically relevant metals as well as sulfur in mosses and concludes from this on their entry from the atmosphere. Regionally elevated values of individual elements can be found in the Rhine Valley, the Lower Inn Valley, the Pannonian region, around Treibach-Althofen, Leoben-Donawitz and Reutte. The deposition of lead, molybdenum and cadmium has decreased sharply, while mercury, vanadium and nickel have decreased slightly. 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 comparatively low deposition of metals for an industrial region. The report is a contribution to the monitoring of ICP vegetation as part of the UN ECE Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution.