Contaminated sediments as a potential source of Zn, Pb, and Cd for a river system in the historical metalliferous ore mining and smelting industry area of South Poland

Abstract

Background, aim, and scope Elevated levels of heavy metals in the aquatic and soil systems can be caused by the weathering of mineralized rocks. This enrichment is often considerably enlarged by historical and current mining and smelting activities. In Poland, the most contaminated river systems are those in the Silesia region. The metalliferous ore mining and smelting industries have been the main sources of heavy metal pollutions over the last 100-170 years. The previous and present studies have shown very high concentrations of heavy metals in the bottom sediments of the Mala Panew River, the most polluted tributary of the Oder River. The main objective of this work was to study temporary changes of selected metal (Zn, Pb, and Cd) concentrations in upper layer of bottom sediments at the measuring point near the outlet of the Mala Panew River into the Oder River, and to determine the vertical distribution of the metals in the sediment cores from the most polluted middle part of this river. The mobility of the metals and their potential bioavailability were assessed based on metal partitioning in the sediments and metal concentrations in pore waters. The presented data were compared with metal concentrations in aquatic sediments from similar historical mining and smelting sites in Poland and other countries. Methods The upper layer of bottom sediment samples from the same Mala Panew River measuring point were collected six times in the period 1997-2005, while five sediment cores were collected once from the middle course of Mala Panew River in 2006. Abiotic parameters such as pH and Eh have been determined in situ. Metal contents were determined in the <20 and <63 μm size fractions of sediments after digestion in a microwave oven with aqua regia or concentrated nitric acid. Metal mobility was assessed in the selected sediment cores by the chemical forms of metals (sequential extraction method) and their concentrations in pore waters were investigated. Results The concentrations of Cd, Pb, and Zn in the upper layer of sediments varied, depending on both the season and the year of sampling. Their mean concentrations (from six samplings) are [mg/kg]: Zn 1,846, Pb 229 and Cd 73. The metal concentrations in the sediment cores varied with the depth in the range of [mg/kg]: 0.18-559 for Cd, 26.2-3,309for Pb and 126-11,153 for Zn, although the highest accumulations generally could be observed in the deeper layers. The most mobile metal fractions, i.e., exchangeable, carbonate and easily reducible fractions, are typical of Zn and Cd. Cadmium was found to be the most mobile metal and its relative contribution ranges from 84 to 96%, while in the case of Zn it ranged from 45 to 94%. Lead is mainly associated with the moderately reducible fraction (30-60%). Relative contributions of metal chemical forms slightly vary with the depth in the sediment profile. The results obtained for the pore water samples show very high concentrations of the metals studied, especially in the case of Cd (31-960 μg/dm 3 ) and Zn (300-4,400 μg/dm...

Impact of Mining Dump on the Accumulation and Mobility of Metals in the Bytomka River Sediments

“…The spectrometer was optimized daily with a 10 μg/L solution (Mg, Cu, Rh, Cd, In, Ba, Ce, Pb, U) in 1-% HNO 3 Elan 6100 Setup/Stab./Masscal. Solution manufactured by Perkin-Elmer.…”

“…It enables examining concentrations of main and trace amounts of elements present in the soil [11,18,19,31,63], bottom sediments [1,3,9,26,29], ashes [50] or minerals [13,17,34]. EDXRF is relatively simple and inexpensive when compared to other methods for qualitative and quantitative analyses of heavy metals.…”

Geochemical and Mineralogical Features of Overbank and Stream Sediments of the Beal Wadi (Cartagena-La Union Mining District, SE Spain): Relation to Former Lead–Zinc Mining Activities and Its Environmental Risk

“…Recent studies on metal mobility along soils and sediment profiles, recognize the role of overbank sediments as a secondary pollution source for long time (Aleksander-Kwaterczak and Helios-Rybicka 2009;Cappuyns and Swennen 2007;Cappuyns et al 2006;Cappuyns and Swennen 2004;Swennen and Van der Sluys 2002).…”

Assessing Soil Quality in Areas Affected by Sulfide Mining. Application to Soils in the Iberian Pyrite Belt (SW Spain)

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