The human species have used metals for a long time and with the human population increasing the use of metals also increase. Because of their composition, metals can stay in nature long after they were released. Since the 1960s a sampling of two mosses (Pleurozium schreberi and Hylocomium splendens) have been made all around Sweden to investigate heavy metals bound in moss. Every year manufactories must submit their emissions to their responsible authority. This study aims to investigate if it is possible to use moss samples, wind direction and manufactories registered air emissions to track the transportation and spread of the air emissions. The manufactories examined were Korstaverket, Kubikenborg Aluminium AB, SCA Ortviken and SCA Östrand. The heavy metals examined were cadmium (Cd) and mercury (Hg). Data for this study are based on public information and were collected from SMHI and Länsstyrelsen Västernorrland. The statistical method used was Wilcoxon-Mann- Whitney U- test. The result showed that the heavy metal content in moss samples have increased while the air emission from the manufactories have decreased. Therefore, the conclusion is that it is not possible to trace the registered air emissions of local industries using moss samples and wind direction, based on the collected data.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:umu-225614 |
| Date | January 2024 |
| Creators | Rundqvist, Evelina |
| Publisher | Umeå universitet, Institutionen för ekologi, miljö och geovetenskap |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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