Atmospheric deposition of heavy metals and other trace elements in Kazakhstan

Abstract

The moss-biomonitor method was used to assess the atmospheric deposition of heavy metals and other trace
elements in the Southeast, North-East, North and Central parts of Kazakhstan within the framework of the UNECE ICP
Vegetation program. Seventy-eight moss samples were collected in the summer and autumn of 2015, and thirty-five moss
samples were collected in the summer of 2016. A total of 46 elements were determined by neutron activation analysis at the
IBR-2 reactor of the Neutron Physics Laboratory of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research.
This topic is relevant, since the assessment of air pollution is an important task of protecting the environment. For the
prediction and assessment of the state of the environment in recent decades, methods based on bioindication are becoming
increasingly widespread.