Arsenic and Antimony Content in Soil and Plants from Baia Mare Area, Romania (original) (raw)
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Assessment of environmental arsenic levels in Prievidza district
Journal of Exposure Analysis and Environmental Epidemiology, 2002
A coal -burning power station in the Nitra Valley in central Slovakia annually emitted large quantities of arsenic ( up to 200 tonnes ) between 1953 and 1989. Since then, pollution -control measures have reduced arsenic emissions to less than 2 tonnes a year. However, the power station was still a source of airborne arsenic pollution. As part of an EU -funded study on exposure to arsenic and cancer risk in central and Eastern Europe we carried out a study of environmental levels of arsenic in the homes and gardens of residents of the district. Garden soil samples ( n = 210 ), house dust samples ( n = 210 ) and composite house dust samples ( n = 109 ) were collected and analysed using inductively coupled plasma atomic absorption spectroscopy ( ICP -AES ) at Imperial College. The mean arsenic content of coal and ash in samples taken from the plant was 519 g / g ( n = 19 ) and 863 g / g ( n = 22 ), respectively. The geometric mean ( GM ) arsenic concentration of garden soils was 26 g / g ( range 8.8 -139.0 g / g ), for house dust 11.6 g / g ( range 2.1 -170 g / g ) and for composite house dust 9.4 g / g ( range 2.3 -61.5 g / g ). The correlation between the arsenic levels in soil and in house dust was 0.3 ( P < 0.01 ), in soil and composite house dust 0.4 and house dust and composite house dust 0.4 ( P < 0.01 for both ), i.e., were moderate. Arsenic levels in both house dust and soil decreased with distance from the power station. Overall, levels in both fell by half 5 km from the point source. Weak correlations were seen between the total urinary arsenic concentrations and arsenic concentrations in composite house dust.
Journal of Environmental Health Science and Engineering, 2020
Purpose In this study, rates of arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead and zinc contents in agricultural soils from Eghlid County, south of Iran, were determined to assess the soil pollution and potential ecological risk index (PERI) and also spatial distribution of such elements. Method A total of 100 topsoil specimens were collected from 100 sampling stations. In the laboratory, after acid digestion the element contents in soil samples were determined using ICP-OES. Then, the soil contamination and also ecological risk of the soil were assessed using various indices especially Igeo, PI, IPI, PLI and PERI. Also, the spatial distribution maps of the studied elements in soil specimens were made using the kriging interpolation technique by ArcGIS software (10.4). Results Based on the results, the mean contents (mg/kg) of the elements in specimens were 1.85, 2.80, 19.04, 19.35, 7.17 and 38.77 for As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb and Zn, respectively. Arsenic and Cu contents were comparable to background values, while Cd contents were higher than their corresponding background values. The results of principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) revealed that Cd had anthropogenic sources; while, other elements originated from natural sources. Pollution index (PI) values of As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb and Zn varied in the range of 0.45-1.49, 0.52-32.09, 0.096-0.33, 0.36-1.35, 0.18-0.32 and 0.23-1.59, with mean values of 0.92, 12.17, 0.21, 0.68, 0.21 and 0.96, respectively. The integrated pollution load index (PLI) values of the specimens with an average value of 0.84, indicated that 65% and 35% of soil samples were moderately and low contaminated, respectively. The mean value of PERI with 380.32 implied that the agricultural soils of the study area could be classified of high ecological risk. The spatial distribution of content of the elements showed that Cd had high spatial variability. Conclusions Although in the short run, the contents of the elements found in the agricultural soil samples may not be alarming for agricultural production and consequently human health, signals it can be observed especially for Cd in the long term due to the impact of anthropogenic activities that lead to the discharge of this element to the environment and can result in its accumulation in agricultural soils. In conclusion, as it is expected that the metal inputs increase in the future, it is recommended that plant analyses be included in the future studies for determining the impact of the amount of bioavailable metals.
Cadmium, Arsenic and Antimony in Ahangaran Mine Soils, Malayer, West of Iran
2013
Heavy metal contaninoliott has beconte an itnporlunt etl'irt'rtmertloL haaarcl in recertt years. In this study a soil-based geochemical survey' in the mining district ol Ahangaran Malayer (Hantedan provitce, west of lran) was catied out. The concentratiorts of Pb, Zn, Cu, Cd, As, and Sb were determined in 40 topsoil santples. A nurnber of calculation ntethods have been put.fonvard.fbr quantifying the contantirttttiorr lev'el ot' heavt rnetals on the basis of geoaccumuLation index (ls"o), enrichnrent factor (EF), pollutiort inrlex (PI). The calculated results of lr"o and EF of heavy metals reveaL the order of lr"o is Pb > Sb > Cd > As > Cu> Znandthe order of EF is Pb > Sb > Cd > Zn> Cu > As. The high Ir"o and EF for Pb, Sb, and Cd in the soils indicate that there is considerttble Pb, Sb, and Cd pollution, which mainly originates from rtining activities. The 1r",, and EF of Zn, As and Cu are low and the assessment results indicate this poLlution is not significant. Assessment results of PI indicate soils are seriously polluted.
2015
The present study has been performed with the following objectives: (1) to determine the arsenic (As) concentrations in water, soil and leaves of plants growing in contaminated areas; (2) to evaluate the potential risk of arsenic in the Qorveh area and (3) to correlate the arsenic concentrations in water, soil and plants. To assess the potential of the native plant species for phytoremediation, plant, soil and water samples were collected from three contaminated villages of Qorveh County. The areas were the Babagorgor, Mehdikhan and Hajiabad (Qorveh county), and samples were taken from May to December 2012. Water samples were collected from 18 as contaminated shallow wells of Babagorgor, Mehdikhan and Hajiabad villages which were used for drinking and irrigation. The soil sampling period was from May to December 2012 (eight months) that were collected from three Ascontaminated areas (20 samples per each area). Plants were sampled from As-contaminated areas in Qorveh county. The plan...
Arsenic in soil and vegetation of a contaminated area
International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 2013
Plant and soil samples were collected from one uncontaminated and four contaminated sites (in the Dashkasan mining area western Iran). Total and water-soluble arsenic in the soil ranged from 7 to 795 and from 0.007 to 2.32 mg/kg, respectively. The highest arsenic concentration in soil was found at the ore dressing area (up to 1,180 mg/kg) and lowest at an uncontaminated area (up to 11 mg/kg). A total of 49 plant species belonging to 15 families were collected from four sampling sites. A significant positive correlation was detected between the concentrations of arsenic in plant dry matter and those in soils. The highest arsenic concentrations were found in Hyoscyamus kurdicus Bornm. (up to 205 mg/kg) and Helichrysum oligocephalum DC. (up to 162 mg/kg). These two accumulator species could have potential for soil clean-up by phytoextraction. The data have been compared with those for the Zarshuran mining area (north-western Iran) obtained in a former study.
In this research the concentration and the spatial distribution of elements As and Sb in the soils of the hydrologic basin of the Amyros river in the region of Larissa (Greece) were studied. The main goal of this research was to identify the areas with anomalous concentrations and to determine the spatial distribution of the above elements for potential future environmental restoration, because in this region apple trees are cultivated. One hundred seventy three (173) soil samples were collected and analyzed by ICP-AES after solubilization with HClO 4-HNO 3-HCl-HF. The mean concentration values of both elements were higher than the mean values of the world soils. The spatial distribution of the highest As and Sb contents is unbreakably linked to metal sulphide mineralization connected with Tertiary hydrothermal solutions which were emanated from acid sub-volcanic infiltrations.
Journal of Geochemical Exploration, 2018
Environmental characterization was conducted in one mining and one smelting community in Armenia, Akhtala and Alaverdi, respectively. The aim of the study was to quantify the levels and possible origins of arsenic and lead in the residential soil of these communities, and measure the relationship between those levels in the soil, and its proximity to the industrial source. In total, 459 soil samples were tested in the communities using an X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) spectrometer. The study team followed standard protocols during the process of soil collection, processing, testing and quality assurance procedures. We compared arsenic and lead concentrations with the Maximum Allowable Concentrations (MAC), Clean up Level (CL) and Highest Background Level (HBL). We, also calculated the Geoaccumulation index (Igeo) and Enrichment Factor (EF). To identify the possible origin of contamination we performed linear regression, principal component analysis (PCA) and interpolation using the distance of each sampling point from the smelter smokestacks, sampling point elevation and measured content of arsenic and lead for Alaverdi. The results showed that in the smelting town of Alaverdi, 75.6% of soil samples exceeded Clean up Level for arsenic and 24.0% for lead. In the mining town of Akhtala, 3.2% of all soil samples exceeded Clean up Level for arsenic and 27.1% for lead. Pollution levels in the towns studied were classified as moderate to strongly polluted. In Alaverdi, both distance and elevation were statistically significant predictors for elevated arsenic and lead levels in residential soil. In Alaverdi, the PCA resulted in three components, one of which consisted of As, Pb, Mn, Cu and Zn, suggesting influence of copper-smelter emission on contamination. In Akhtala, the PCA resulted in four components. Anthropogenic influence was found in two components. One was related to the operation of a smelter during the Armenian Bagradit dynasty in the 10 th century
Antimony and arsenic uptake by vegetation growing at abandoned mines
2013
This paper investigates antimony (Sb) and arsenic (As) occurrence in plants (Pistacia lentiscus), an evergreen shrub, collected at abandoned mines in Sardinia. Maximum concentrations observed in plants were 22 μg/g Sb and 0.35 μg/g As, with concentrations accumulated in roots being generally higher than those in leaves. The ranges of amounts washed out from leaves were 0.003-0.088 μg/g Sb and 0.002-0.024 μg/g As. Antimony and arsenic in vegetation samples collected in the mine area were much higher than concentrations observed in plants collected on the slopes upstream of the mine, although at levels much lower than observed in plants growing at mine sites elsewhere.
Occurence and distribution of arsenic in soil from Bobovdol Valey
The aim of this study is spatial analysis and assessm ent of the content of As in soils in the area of Bobov Dol Therm olectric power plant. Soil sam ples were taken according to previously selected polygonal network. The sam ple locations ensure evenly cover of the selected area of interest. А preliminary statistical analysis of the data was perform ed in order to evaluate the distribution of As and exclusion of erroneous values. Interpolation of the data was m ade by kriging geostatistical m ethods and variogram m e analysis. The analysis of the variability in the data showed the m ost gradual change of the contents in the east-west direction. Areas with higher contents of As are found то тхе west of the Тherm al power plant.
Assessment of Arsenic Enrichment of Cultivated Soils in Southern Poland
Polish Journal of Environmental Studies
Arsenic content in the cultivated soils of an area affected by long-range atmospheric transport from the Upper Silesian Industrial Region (southern Poland) and point emission sources (coal mine) was 8.7 mg/kg on average. The calculated index of geoaccumulation pointed to moderate arsenic contamination of the soil. The enrichment factor calculated as a ratio between arsenic content in the soil and arsenic content in the earth crust applying the logarithmic values of reference elements (i.e. chromium and calcium) also classi-fied the soil as moderately contaminated with arsenic.