Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta , 348B South Academic Building, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2H1, Canada.
Environ Sci Technol. 2014 Nov 4;48(21):12603-11. doi: 10.1021/es503751v. Epub 2014 Oct 13.
Sphagnum moss was collected from 21 ombrotrophic (rain-fed) peat bogs surrounding open pit mines and upgrading facilities of Athabasca bituminous sands in Alberta (AB). In comparison to contemporary Sphagnum moss from four bogs in rural locations of southern Germany (DE), the AB mosses yielded lower concentrations of Ag, Cd, Ni, Pb, Sb, and Tl, similar concentrations of Mo, but greater concentrations of Ba, Th, and V. Except for V, in comparison to the "cleanest", ancient peat samples ever tested from the northern hemisphere (ca. 6000-9000 years old), the concentrations of each of these metals in the AB mosses are within a factor of 3 of "natural, background" values. The concentrations of "heavy metals" in the mosses, however, are proportional to the concentration of Th (a conservative, lithophile element) and, therefore, contributed to the plants primarily in the form of mineral dust particles. Vanadium, the single most abundant trace metal in bitumen, is the only anomaly: in the AB mosses, V exceeds that of ancient peat by a factor of 6; it is therefore enriched in the mosses, relative to Th, by a factor of 2. In comparison to the surface layer of peat cores collected in recent years from across Canada, from British Columbia to New Brunswick, the Pb concentrations in the mosses from AB are far lower.
从加拿大各地（从不列颠哥伦比亚省到新不伦瑞克省）采集的最近几年的泥炭芯表层样本相比，从阿尔伯塔省沥青砂露天矿和升级设施周围的 21 个寡营养（雨养）泥炭沼泽中采集的泥炭藓，其铅浓度要低得多。与德国南部四个沼泽地的当代泥炭藓相比，AB 地区的苔藓产生的银、镉、镍、铅、锑和铊浓度较低，钼的浓度相似，但钡、钍和钒的浓度较高。除了钒之外，与测试过的北半球最“干净”的古代泥炭样本（约 6000-9000 年前）相比，这些金属在 AB 苔藓中的浓度都在“自然背景”值的 3 倍以内。然而，这些苔藓中的“重金属”浓度与钍的浓度成正比（一种保守的亲石元素），因此主要以矿物粉尘颗粒的形式被植物吸收。在沥青中含量最多的痕量金属钒是唯一的例外：在 AB 苔藓中，钒的含量是古代泥炭的 6 倍；因此，相对于钍，苔藓中的钒含量富集了 2 倍。
