Assessment of heavy metal pollution in urban topsoils from the metropolitan area of Mexico City

Mortón-Bermea, Ofelia; Hernández-Álvarez, Elizabeth; González-Hernández, Galia; Romero, Francisco Martín; Lozano, Rufino; Beramendi‐Orosco, Laura

doi:10.1016/j.gexplo.2008.07.002

Cited by 217 publications

(90 citation statements)

References 18 publications

(18 reference statements)

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“…These coincide with industrial sites such as a large urban waste incineration plant, a sepiolite mining installation, and other construction treatment plants. Morton-Bermea et al (2009) observed a similar pattern of Cu and Zn contamination in Mexico City. There, the underlying pattern was attributed to emissions from motor traffic with local hot spots close to industrial sites.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 61%

Spatial variation of trace elements in the peri-urban soil of Madrid

Cueva¹,

Marchant

Quintana³

et al. 2013

J Soils Sediments

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Purpose The peri-urban region to the south east of Madrid contains a mixture of housing, manufacturing industry and farming, some of which disperse metals, in particular cadmium, copper, lead, and zinc, into the soil. We have mapped the concentrations of these elements and identified the major influences on their distributions. Material and methods We sampled the topsoil at 125 sites across 1,050 km 2 of peri-urban land to the south east of the city on two grids, one nested inside the other. At each site, we measured the current contents of the four trace elements in the soil. We used robust geostatistical methods to model the complex spatial distributions of the data as mixtures of fixed and random effects. The empirical best linear unbiased predictor was used to map the elements. Site descriptors (lithology, land cover, cultivation, relief, erosion, and stoniness) were then included as covariates to identify significant effects on trace element concentrations. Results and discussion The complex spatial distributions of the elements seem to arise from several sources. The concentrations generally increase from southeast to northwest, i.e., with increasing proximity to Madrid itself, the main potential source of pollution. This pattern is clear for lead and similar for copper and zinc, though with "hot spots" at or near industrial sites. The spatial pattern of cadmium is more complex and depends on varied lithology, industry, and land use such as irrigation and cultivation. In general, the concentrations of the four elements appear to decrease with increases in stoniness and erosion, and to be largest on the valley floors. Conclusions Robust geostatistical methods enabled us to analyze and map the complex patterns of spatial variation of trace elements in a peri-urban region of Madrid. They show that distance to the city center, lithology, manufacturing industry, and cultivation all play their parts in loading the soil with lead, copper, zinc, and cadmium. In the event, none of the metals has yet exceeded the legislative thresholds, but some concentrations are already substantially greater than would arise from natural sources, especially closest to Madrid itself.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 61%

Spatial variation of trace elements in the peri-urban soil of Madrid

Cueva¹,

Marchant

Quintana³

et al. 2013

J Soils Sediments

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“…A two-step microwave program using 4 ml of HF plus 2 ml of HNO 3 and heating for 17 minutes in a power range of between 300-600 W was employed. Teflon high pressure digestion vessels (HPV80) were used in the process.…”

Section: Trace Element Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Industrial activities releasing metals or organic particulates impact surrounding soils [1][2][3][4][5]. These pollutants pose a significant risk for health and the natural environment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of a semi-industrial coke processing plant in the surrounding surface soil

Dı́az-Somoano

López-Antón

Suárez‐Ruíz

et al. 2012

Fuel Processing Technology

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Soil pollution by anthropogenic activities is an important environmental issue especially in industrialized countries. The objective of this study is to evaluate the environmental impact of a coal conversion plant on the surrounding soil by measuring the spatial distribution of particulate organic carbon and determining the concentration of trace elements (part I) and PAHs (part II).The results indicate that the surface soil present an increase in the content of organic particulates with values exceeding 80% vol. at the centre of the coking plant facilities. The concentrations rapidly decrease as the distance from the plant increases. Although concentrations of As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, and Zn in most cases did not exceed the environmental limits, a clear relationship was established between the presence of some of these elements and the high values of particulate organic carbon content found in the proximity of the plant.

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“…One of the main characteristic of urban soil is that it is often contaminated by various kinds of pollutants such as heavy metals. Due to proximity to humans, accumulation of harmful substances in urban soils is of great concern (Manta et al 2002;Maas et al 2010).Strong accumulation of heavy metals such as Cu, Cd, Zn, Pb, and Hg in urban soils has been reported by many researchers (Mellor 2001;Madrid et al 2002;Morton-Bermea et al 2009). Heavy metals may be transferred to human bodies by way of ingestion, inhalation, and dermal contact, or through the food chain (Biasioli et al 2006;Vrscaj et al 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…And multivariate analysis based on different classification criteria such as factor analysis, cluster analysis, and multidimensional scaling may classify elements into groups with close relationships. Morton-Bermea et al (2009) pointed out that the use of geostatistical techniques in extensive urban areas has to be done with caution because urban contamination could be modified by multiple anthropogenic factors. Alternatively, statistical methods such as ANOVA and multiple comparisons were used in this study to assess the potential heavy metal pollutant (Bai et al 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%