Comparison of Cu–Hg–Ni–Pb concentrations in soils adjacent to anthropogenic point sources: examples from four Canadian sites

McMartin, I; Henderson, P J; Plouffe, A; Knight, R D

doi:10.1144/1467-787302-007

Cited by 34 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 19 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Focus has mostly been on total metal concentrations in the surface soil, but some researchers have also studied vertical distribution of contaminants (Buchauer, 1973;Låg, 1974;McMartin et al, 2002;Scokart et al, 1983;Svendsen et al, 2007). In order to assess the ecological risk associated with soil metal contamination, however, determination of total metal concentrations is not sufficient.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Partitioning of Zn, Cd, Pb, and Cu in organic-rich soil profiles in the vicinity of a zinc smelter

Svendsen

Steinnes

Blom

2011

Chemical Speciation & Bioavailability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A five-step sequential extraction procedure was applied to organic-rich soil samples from five soil profiles situated 1 -8 km from a zinc smelter. The partitioning of Zn, Cd, Pb, and Cu into five operationally defined fractions (exchangeable, ''carbonate''-bound, reducible, oxidizable, and residual) was studied at different soil depths down to 35 cm. In the surface soil (0 -1 cm) a major part of Pb and Cu was extracted in the oxidizable fraction, whereas for Zn and Cd slightly more was extracted in the ''carbonate''-fraction than in the other four fractions. Extracted metal proportions in the oxidizable fraction were respectively of the order of 30%, 20%, 50%, and 80% for Zn, Cd, Pb, and Cu in the surface soil for all sites, but these proportions decreased with soil depth. In the surface soil less than 20% of all the elements were extracted in the residual fraction, but the proportions associated with this fraction generally increased with soil depth. In the C-horizon, differences in extracted proportions of Pb and Cu in the residual fraction were probably due to geochemical factors, whereas for Zn the low extracted proportion at a highly contaminated site (20%) may be due to Zn migration to the C-horizon at this site. For Cd the extracted proportions in the C-horizon were lower than for the other elements, generally below 20%, presumably because Cd is weaker in terms of its adsorption to the soil than the other elements studied. Total concentrations of the metals decreased strongly with increasing distance from the smelter, but less systematic differences were observed for their distributions among fractions. Potentially bioavailable metal proportions (exchangeable þ ''carbonate''-bound fraction) in the surface soil were about 50%, 60%, 20%, and 10% for Zn, Cd, Pb, and Cu, respectively. In C-horizon soil the mobility sequence Cd4Zn!Pb ¼ Cu was generally observed. The present results indicate that the concentrations and chemical fractionation of Zn, Pb, and Cd in these soils represent a considerable risk to natural terrestrial food chains.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Partitioning of Zn, Cd, Pb, and Cu in organic-rich soil profiles in the vicinity of a zinc smelter

Svendsen

Steinnes

Blom

2011

Chemical Speciation & Bioavailability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The risk of heavy metal contamination is pronounced in the environment adjacent to large industrial complexes. Many cases of particularly severe metal pollution by atmospheric deposition have been reported from areas surrounding nonferrous metal smelters in many countries (Steinnes et al 2000;Kabala and Singh 2001;McMartin et al 2002;Martley et al 2004). Typically, these studies found highly elevated concentrations of the emitted metals in the topsoils adjacent to smelting facilities.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Heavy metal contamination in the vicinity of an industrial area near Bucharest

Velea

Gherghe

Predicã

et al. 2008

Environ Sci Pollut Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background, aim, and scope Heavy metals such as lead are well known to cause harmful health effects. Especially children are particularly susceptible to increased levels of lead in their blood. It is also a fact that lead concentration is increasing in the environment due to increased anthropogenic activity. The risk of heavy metal contamination is pronounced in the environment adjacent to large industrial complexes. In a combined case study, the environmental pollution by heavy metals was related to children's health in the vicinity of an industrial area located 4 km south-east from Bucharest about 2 km east from the nearest townPantelimon. This site includes companies processing different, nonferrous solid wastes for recovery of heavy metals and producing different nonferrous alloys and lead batteries. In this paper, mainly the results of environmental sampling and analyses are summarized. Materials and methods Water, soil, and atmospheric deposition samples were collected from different locations within 3 km from the industrial area. For comparison, samples were also taken from Bucharest. Water samples were filtered (<0.45 μm), extracted by salpetric acid, and quantified by ICP-OES and ICP-MS. Soil samples were dried, sieved (<2 mm), extracted by aqua regia and analyzed by AAS. In order to quantify the atmospheric deposition, three kinds of permanently open collecting pots were used on nine different sites between August and November 2006. Results At most sampling locations, the heavy metal concentrations in soil decrease with increasing distance to the presumably major source of pollution. Highest heavy metal concentrations were found in 10-20 cm soil depths. There were also decreasing heavy metal concentrations for atmospheric deposition with increasing distance to the industrial site. In surface and groundwater samples, traces of zinc, copper and lead were detected. Discussion The heavy metal concentrations in soil were increased in the study area, mostly under legal action limits in low-concern areas (e.g., 1,000 mg Pb/kg dry soil), but often above action limits for high-concern areas (100 mg Pb/kg dry soil) such as populated areas. The soluble lead concentrations in water samples indicate a need for monitoring and assessing water quality in more detail. The results for atmospheric deposition showed increased dust precipitation and heavy metal loads in the study area compared to Bucharest. However, based on mass flow balance calculations, the actual atmospheric deposition of heavy metals must be much lower than it was in the past decades. Conclusions It was shown that highest lead values in water, soil and atmospheric deposition are rather to be found near the investigated industrial site than at the control sites in Bucharest. Our results correspond very well with results that show that children from Pantelimon have significantly increased lead concentrations in their blood compared to children in Bucharest. The increased lead contamination around the investigated industrial area is likely to have

show abstract

“…These results demonstrate that the source of variability of trace metals in these sites is not solely related to the proximity to the source. McMartin et al (2002) noted that, on a regional basis around anthropogenic metal sources, concentrations of trace metals are associated with distance from the source, organic matter and the geology of the substrate. It appears that a combination of these factors, along with inconsistent physical deposition, and heterogeneity in soil forming processes and parent material, result in high overall variability of trace metals within forest sites.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Podzolic soils, some accumulation may also occur in Bf or Bhf horizons, in the same manner as Al and Fe (Johnson and Petras 1998;Jersak et al 1997) indicating that trace metals are mobilized through similar eluvial processes. However, significant accumulation in mineral horizons is rarely observed with distances greater than 5 km from a source of emission (Derome and Lindroos 1998;Kopstik et al 1998;McMartin et al 1999McMartin et al , 2002.…”

Section: Mots Clés: Variabilité Spatiale Métaux Trace Sols Podzolicmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These sites are found to be extremely variable and require high sample numbers and complex sampling designs to effectively map metal contamination. Also on a large scale, Kopstik et al (1998) and McMartin et al (2002) examined how the concentration of metals in forest soils vary as a function of distance travelling in the direction of prevailing winds from a point source emitter in northern Russia and four anthropogenic point sources in Canada, respectively. Kopstik et al (1998) in examining the concentrations at different sites in different forest stands, observed that the concentration of metals become more consistent with increasing distance from the point source (CV's decreased with distance).…”

Section: Mots Clés: Variabilité Spatiale Métaux Trace Sols Podzolicmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Spatial variability of trace metals in Podzols of northern forest ecosystems: Sampling implications

MacDonald¹,

Hendershot²

2003

Can. J. Soil. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

. 2003. Spatial variability of trace metals in Podzols of nothern forest ecosystems: Sampling implications. Can. J. Soil Sci. 83: 581-587. The concentrations of metals in soils are spatially heterogeneous and soil sampling carried out when studying metals in forest ecosystems is often inadequate. We examined the spatial variability of Cd, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn in northern forest ecosystems on a transect with distance from two point source emitters with the goal of providing basic information about the distribution and variability of metals in these soils. Samples were taken under six sampling points at four depths from three experimental sites on each of the two transects. Soils were analysed for acid digestible metals, pH and organic carbon content. Standard deviation, coefficients of variation, mean and medians were analysed for each horizon of each site. It was observed that Cu and Mn variability is higher in closer proximity to the point source while the variability of Zn increased with decreasing soil pH. In Sudbury, emitted metals Ni and Cu accumulate together in soils, whereas in Rouyn-Noranda, with the exception of Cd and Zn, metal concentrations were not related in forest floors. Observations suggest that physical factors influencing where metals are deposited as well as the inherent variability in soil chemical characteristics, and the distance from the point source can all act together to result in high variability in soil metal concentrations in a single forest site. Sampling in the interest of relating vegetation metal concentrations or response to soil metals should be carried out on an individual plant basis with multiple samples taken for each individual. Soil samples taken at intervals of 1 to 1.7 m will provide relative error in estimating soil concentrations of 10% or 20%, respectively. Nous avons examiné la variabilité spatiale du Cd, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb et Zn dans les écosystèmes des forêts nordiques à des distances croissantes à partir de deux sources distinctes dans le but de fournir de l'information de base sur la distribution et la variabilité des métaux dans ces sols. Des échantillons ont été pris en six points d'échantillonnage à quatre profondeurs différentes dans chacun de trois sites expérimentaux sur les deux sections transversales. Les sols ont été analysés pour leur contenu en métal par digestion acide, leur pH et leur concentration en matière organique. Pour chaque paramètre, l'écart type, le coefficient de variation, la moyenne et la médiane ont été estimés dans chaque horizon de chaque point de l'échantillonnage. Nous avons observé que la variabilité de Cu et de Mn est plus haute dans une proximité plus étroite de la source d'émission tandis que la variabilité du Zn augmentait avec une diminution du pH du sol. À Sudbury, les émissions des métaux Ni et Cu s'accumulent ensemble dans les sols, tandis qu'à Rouyn-Noranda, cette tendance n'est pas observée dans la couche organique du sol forestier, sauf dans le cas du Cd et du Zn. Les observations suggèrent que les facteurs physiques qui...

show abstract

Comparison of Cu–Hg–Ni–Pb concentrations in soils adjacent to anthropogenic point sources: examples from four Canadian sites

Cited by 34 publications

References 19 publications

Partitioning of Zn, Cd, Pb, and Cu in organic-rich soil profiles in the vicinity of a zinc smelter

Partitioning of Zn, Cd, Pb, and Cu in organic-rich soil profiles in the vicinity of a zinc smelter

Heavy metal contamination in the vicinity of an industrial area near Bucharest

Spatial variability of trace metals in Podzols of northern forest ecosystems: Sampling implications

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About