Bioindication of PBDEs and PCBs by native and transplanted moss Pleurozium schreberi

- Native P. schreberi contained the highest ΣPBDE 63643 pg g−1 east from a steel smelter.
- Native P. schreberi contained the highest ΣPCB 4.47 pg g−1 east from a steel smelter.
- PBDEs in P. schreberi were dominated by BDE209.
- PBDEs were higher in native mosses than in transplants in rural and industrial sites.
- PCBs were higher in native mosses than in transplants in rural and industrial sites.

PBDEs and PCBs are toxic, persistent organic pollutants (POPs), and the use of PCBs is forbidden, but they are still present in many environments and biota. 90-day assays were conducted with the moss Pleurozium schreberi transplanted from an uncontaminated control site to ten sites (rural and urban) selected in one of the most polluted regions of Upper Silesia in Poland. Native P. schreberi mosses were collected from the same ten polluted sites. Concentrations of PBDEs (28, 47, 66, 85, 99, 100, 153, 154, 183 and 209) and PCBs (28, 52, 101, 118, 138, 153, 180) were determined in all native and transplanted P. schreberi from all sites. Native P. schreberi contained the highest ΣPBDE and ΣPCB levels (63.6 ng g−1 and 4.47 pg g−1, respectively) when collected in the vicinity of a steel smelter. After 90 days of the experiment native and transplanted P. schreberi contained the highest concentrations of the same BDE 209 congener (88-91% of total PBDEs in the native mosses and 85-90% of the total PBDE burden in the transplants). The native and transplanted mosses from the industrial sites after 90 days of exposure contained significantly higher concentrations of all the examined PBDE and PCB congeners (except for 153 and 180) than mosses from rural sites. PBDE and PCB values were higher in native than in transplanted mosses after 90 days of exposure in both rural and industrial sites.