International Journal of Scientific and Technological Research www.iiste.org ISSN 2422-8702 (Online) Vol 4, No.10, 2018 120 | Page www.iiste.org Determination of Trace Element Level in Some Lichens from Mount Ida (Çanakkale, Turkey) By ICP-MS Ozlem Tonguc Yayintas (Corresponding author) Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, School of Applied Science, Fisheries Technology, 17020, Terzioglu Campus, Canakkale, Turkey E-mail: ozlemyayintas@hotmail.com Latife Ceyda Irkin Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, School of Applied Science, Fisheries Technology, 17020, Terzioglu Campus, Canakkale, Turkey E-mail: latifeirkin@gmail.com Atila Yildiz Ankara University, Faculty of Sciences, Department of Biology, Ankara, Turkey E-mail:atilayildiz66@gmail.com Selehattin Yilmaz Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Faculty of Arts & Sciences, Department of Chemistry, Terzioglu Campus, 17020 Canakkale, Turkey E-mail: seletyilmaz@hotmail.com Abstract Pollution effects are indeed many and wide-ranging. There is no doubt that excessive levels of pollution are causing a lot of damage to human and animal health, plants, trees including tropical rainforests, as well as the wider environment. Air pollution; density, shelf life and frequency can be defined as the presence of airborne substances that adversely affect the health of organisms and cause harm to the environment. Since the last fifty years, more developed countries have become more interested in air pollution problems. There are many pollutants in the air such as sulfur oxides (SOx), nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO), ozone (O 3 ), different types of particles, heavy metals and various types of volatile organic compounds. The primary source of air pollution is the consumption of fossil fuels to produce energy, various industrial operations and transportation activities. Lichens have been used as bioindicators in various atmospheric pollution assessments in several countries and Turkey. In this study four lichen species were collected from Bayramic and Ayvacık (Canakkale, Turkey) province in January 2018. Prepared sample is cold leached with nitric acid then digested in a hot water bath. After cooling a modified Aqua Regia solution of equal parts concentrated HCl, HNO 3 and Deionized (DI) water are added to each sample to leach in a heating block of hot water bath. Sample is made up to volume with dilute HCl then filtered. Sample splits of 1g (VG101) can be analyzed. The concentrations of some trace metals were determined by Inductive Couple Plasm-Mass Spectrophotometry (ICP-MS). The accuracy of method was confirmed using standard reference material (SRM). Keywords: Lichens, trace metals, Mount Ida, ICP-MS, SRM. 1. INTRODUCTION Since the last fifty years, countries have become more interested in pollution problems. Environmental contamination by toxic metals is a serious problem due to their incremental accumulation in the food chain and continued persistence in the ecosystem. There are many pollutants in the air such as sulfur oxides (SOx), nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO), ozone (O 3 ), different types of particles, heavy metals and various types of volatile organic compounds. Heavy metals are discharged in small quantities into environment through numerous industrial activities. Such as chromium, copper, lead and nickel in wastewater are hazardous to the