Exploring Moss: Nature's Detectives in North Macedonia

In the heart of North Macedonia lies Mariovo, a region where moss is playing a crucial role in monitoring air pollution. Scientists have been using moss samples to track the distribution of potentially harmful chemicals in the air. They found 44 different elements in 20 moss samples. These moss samples were carefully analyzed after a process called microwave digestion and then tested using special machines called ICP-AES and ICP-MS. Surprisingly, some of the harmful elements were only come from rocks, not from human activities. By using something called R-mode factor analysis, scientists managed to group these elements into factors. They found three factors among the bigger elements and two among the smaller ones. Each factor had its own unique combination of elements like chromium, iron, and nickel in the first factor, or gallium and scandium in another.