Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn in terraced soil on flysch deposits of Kaštela Bay coastal area, Croatia

Abstract

The aims of this study were: (i) to determine concentrations of heavy metals (HMs): Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn in terraced soils on flysch deposits of Kaštela Bay coastal area, Croatia, (ii) to define their possible sources and (iii) to compare concentrations of HMs among different land use types: olive groves, vineyards and abandoned agricultural land (grassland). In a total of 26 topsoil samples (0-25 cm) were analysed for pH, carbonates, organic carbon, K 2 O, P 2 O 5 , texture and concentrations of the HMs. The elements were extracted with aqua regia and determined by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). The following mean values of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn concentrations were 0.39, 46.5, 15.8 and 51.4 mg/kg, respectively. The principal component analysis (PCA) and the correlation matrix (CM) revealed weak relationship of HMs with soil properties and strong similarity among Cd, Pb and Zn concentrations indicating its common origin, controlled by different anthropogenic activity. The Cu poorly correlated with all other metals that point to its different origin-application of copper-based fungicide. The mean concentrations of Cd, Pb and Zn in vineyards, olive groves and grasslands were not statistically significant different in relation to land use types. The Cu concentrations in vineyards were significantly higher compared to other land use types.

The Remediation of Agricultural Land Contaminated by Heavy Metals

“…Croatia, causing soil contamination with copper in vineyards due to a copper-based fungicide (Miloš and Bensa, 2019), as well as a copper and zinc soil contamination due to various anthropogenic agricultural activities (Ružičić et al, 2019). The consequences of an agricultural land contamination are visible in the contaminated vegetables in Croatia either due to a fertilizer or pesticide application (Stančić et al, 2016) or in the form of an indirect agricultural land contamination caused by outer factors (Jurić et al, 2017).…”