A spatial assessment of mercury content in the European Union topsoil

Ballabio, Cristiano; Jiskra, Martin; Osterwalder, Stefan; Borrelli, Pasquale; Montanarella, Luca; Panagos, Panos

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.144755

Cited by 73 publications

(64 citation statements)

References 69 publications

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“…After the quality check, the LUCAS topsoil database 2009 includes 21,682 records ( Fig. 1 – top left) and has been used in recent studies for heavy metals ( Ballabio et al, 2018 , 2021 , 2018 ; Panagos et al, 2018 ). The 90 samples from Cyprus have not been analysed for mercury, and one sample was labelled with Hg concentration ‘Too high’ (excluded from our analysis as this sample had relatively high concentrations of nearly all metals).…”

Section: Methods and Data Inputsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The mercury content in topsoils was recently mapped at high resolution ( Ballabio et al, 2021 ) highlighting the main drivers of mercury contamination in topsoils as well as the influence of soil organic matter, temperature, land cover and NDVI on Hg accumulation. This is the latest state of the art in mercury concentration in soils at European scale and has advanced both in the number of input samples compared to past assessments ( Lado et al, 2008 ; Reimann et al, 2018 ) and in the machine learning techniques.…”

Section: Methods and Data Inputsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the first step, we estimated the Hg stocks at pixel level (100 m spatial resolution) by multiplying the Hg topsoil concentration (0–20 cm) ( Ballabio et al, 2021 ) with the topsoil bulk density ( Ballabio et al, 2016 ) and the volume of soil for a depth of 20 cm (Eq. (1) ).…”

Section: Methods and Data Inputsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Mercury in European topsoils: Anthropogenic sources, stocks and fluxes

Panagos

Jiskra

Borrelli

et al. 2021

Environmental Research

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Mercury (Hg) is one of the most dangerous pollutants worldwide. In the European Union (EU), we recently estimated the Hg distribution in topsoil using 21,591 samples and a series of geo-physical inputs. In this manuscript, we investigate the impact of mining activities, chrol-alkali industries and other diffuse pollution sources as primary anthropogenic sources of Hg hotspots in the EU. Based on Hg measured soil samples, we modelled the Hg pool in EU topsoils, which totals about 44.8 Gg, with an average density of 103 g ha −1 . As a following step, we coupled the estimated Hg stocks in topsoil with the pan-European assessment of soil loss due to water erosion and sediment distribution. In the European Union and UK, we estimated that about 43 Mg Hg yr −1 are displaced by water erosion and c. a. 6 Mg Hg yr −1 are transferred with sediments to river basins and eventually released to coastal Oceans. The Mediterranean Sea receives almost half (2.94 Mg yr −1 ) of the Hg fluxes to coastal oceans and it records the highest quantity of Hg sediments. This is the result of elevated soil Hg concentration and high erosion rates in the catchments draining into the Mediterranean Sea. This work contributes to new knowledge in support of the policy development in the on the Zero Pollution Action Plan and the Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) 3.9 and 14.1, which both have as an objective to reduce soil pollution by 2030.

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Section: Methods and Data Inputsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methods and Data Inputsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mercury in European topsoils: Anthropogenic sources, stocks and fluxes

Panagos

Jiskra

Borrelli

et al. 2021

Environmental Research

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“…The Almadén mining district in Ciudad Real, Spain is an area of approximately 300 km 2 , which is of geological interest worldwide, due to the fact that together with the Idrija mine in Slovenia [1], it is considered to have one of the largest deposits of mercury (Hg) along with the presence of high geogenic levels of Hg. The concentrations of this heavy metal in the soils of Almadén exceed 10 6 µg/kg [2].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of the PGPR Capacity of Four Bacterial Strains and Their Mixtures, Tested on Lupinus albus var. Dorado Seedlings, for the Bioremediation of Mercury-Polluted Soils

et al. 2021

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Soil contamination by mercury, which is one of the most toxic heavy metals due to its bioaccumulative capacity, poses a risk to the environment as well as health. The Almadén mining district in Ciudad Real, Spain is one of the most heavily-polluted sites in the world, making the soils unusable. Bioremediation, and more specifically phyto-rhizoremediation, based on the synergistic interaction established between plant and Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR), improves the plant's ability to grow, mobilize, accumulate, and extract contaminants from the soil. The objective of this study is to evaluate the plant growth-promoting ability of four PGPR strains (and mixtures), isolated from the bulk soil and rhizosphere of naturally grown plants in the Almadén mining district, when they are inoculated in emerged seeds of Lupinus albus, var. Dorado in the presence of high concentrations of mercury. After 20 days of incubation and subsequent harvesting of the seedlings, biometric measurements were carried out at the root and aerial levels. The results obtained show that the seeds treatment with PGPR strains improves plants biometry in the presence of mercury. Specifically, strain B2 (Pseudomonas baetica) and B1 (Pseudomonas moraviensis) were those that contributed the most to plant growth, both individually and as part of mixtures (CS5 and CS3). Thus, these are postulated to be good candidates for further in situ phyto-rhizoremediation tests of mercury-contaminated soils.

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“…According to their research, the average amount of Hg in European soil was around 40 μg kg −1 . Soils in Northern Europe have a higher concentration of Hg than soils in the countries of Central and Southern Europe due to the fact that cold, wet weather promotes the accumulation of Hg in organic matter in soil [ 6 ]. Studies related to Hg distribution in soils adjacent to the Hg mines in the Almadén mining district reveal the presence of both high and extremely high levels of Hg (up to 8889 μg/g), while the concentration in sediment and water reaches levels of up to 16,000 μg/g and 11.2 μg/L, respectively [ 7 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Selection of Mercury-Resistant PGPR Strains Using the BMRSI for Bioremediation Purposes

González

Mora

Probanza

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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Heavy metal pollution of soil, particularly by mercury (Hg), is a problem that can seriously affect the environment and human health. For this reason, it is necessary to take steps to remediate these environments, prevent potential adverse effects, and restore these areas for subsequent use in agriculture, industry, ranching, and forestry. The present study has selected 40 bacterial strains from rhizosphere and bulk soil that grow naturally in high Hg-contaminated soils from the Almadén mining district in Ciudad Real, Spain. With the objective of evaluating the potential use of these strains in phyto-rhizoremediation, an evaluation and statistical analysis of their PGPR (Plant-Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria) activity at different levels of Hg was carried out as the first condition of selection for their potential use in bioremediation. In addition, a Hg MBC (Maximum Bactericidal Concentration) was performed with the aim of selecting the strains with high Hg tolerance. Finally, strains with potential biotechnological use have been proposed according to the Bio-Mercury Remediation Suitability Index (BMRSI) criteria, which consider indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) production, acid 1- aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic deaminase (ACCd) activity, phosphates solubilization, and siderophore production measured in the presence of Hg, as well as its MBC to Hg. The strains selected for further in vivo and in situ processes must reach at least an MBC (Hg) > 100 μg/mL and BMRSI ≥ 6.5.

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A spatial assessment of mercury content in the European Union topsoil

Cited by 73 publications

References 69 publications

Mercury in European topsoils: Anthropogenic sources, stocks and fluxes

Mercury in European topsoils: Anthropogenic sources, stocks and fluxes

Evaluation of the PGPR Capacity of Four Bacterial Strains and Their Mixtures, Tested on Lupinus albus var. Dorado Seedlings, for the Bioremediation of Mercury-Polluted Soils

Selection of Mercury-Resistant PGPR Strains Using the BMRSI for Bioremediation Purposes

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