Distribution and speciation of mercury in soil in the area of an ancient mercury ore roasting site, Frbejžene trate (Idrija area, Slovenia)

Teršič, Tamara; Gosar, Mateja; Biester, Harald

doi:10.1016/j.gexplo.2011.05.002

Cited by 35 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…The 10 dangerous element median levels were also compared to median levels in soil of different urban areas around the world and the comparison showed only Hg is significantly enriched (several hundred or even thousand times) in Idrija top-and subsoil, while other elements were below, within or slightly above the reported metal concentrations in worldwide studies (Bavec et al, 2015). High Hg values, that were already discussed by Bavec et al (2015), are in good agreement with other studies (GOSaR et al, 2006;teršič et al 2011a, 2011bBavec et al 2016;BaptiSta-SalazaR et al, 2017), which showed mercury enrichment in Idrija soil due to the 500 years of mining and processing of mercury ore.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 81%

Geochemical baseline for chemical elements in top- and subsoil of Idrija

Bavec¹

2017

Geologija

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This study is a continuation of our previous study (Bavec et al., 2015), where the geochemical baseline levels of potentially harmful elements (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mo, Ni, Pb and Zn) in Idrija top-and subsoil (0-10 cm and 10-20 cm) at 45 locations were reported. Here we summarise our previous work and present baseline levels of additional 33 elements (Ag, Al, Ba, Be, Bi, Ca, Ce, Cs, Fe, Ga, Hf, In, K, La, Li, Mg, Mn, Nb, P, Rb, S, Sb, Sc, Se, Sn, Sr, Th, Ti, Tl, U, V, Y and Zr) in order to round off the first systematic geochemical survey of soil in Idrija town and establish a data set of soil elements, which will serve as a baseline for monitoring future changes in the soil chemical composition of the studied area.The baseline levels were determined after aqua regia digestion, their statistical distribution was examined and the medians were compared to the recently established European grazing land and Maribor urban soil medians. To investigate relationships between elements, a correlation-matrix-based hierarchical clustering method was performed and the spatial distribution of their highest levels was examined. The results showed that in general, the median levels of elements in Idrija soil are mostly similar or slightly higher than in European and Maribor soil, with exception of Hg. Elements Al, Bi, Ca, Ce, Co, Cr, Cs, Fe, Ga, Hf, La, Li, Mg, Mn, Nb, Ni, Rb, S, Sc, Th, Ti, Tl, V, Y and Zr are enriched in the rural surroundings, while elements Ag, Ba, Cu, Hg, P, Pb, Se, Sb, Sn and Zn are enriched only partly in the rural surroundings, but mostly in the urban part of the study area. It is assumed that elements, which are enriched only in the rural surroundings, are of natural origin, while elements, which are enriched also in the urban area, are to a certain extent influenced by anthropogenic activities. IzvlečekPredstavljena študija je nadaljevanje preteklih raziskav (Bavec et al., 2015), kjer smo obravnavali vrednosti geokemičnega ozadja potencialno škodljivih elementov (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mo, Ni, Pb in Zn) v zgornjem in spodnjem (0-10 cm in 10-20 cm) sloju tal Idrije na 45. lokacijah. V članku povzemamo prejšnje preiskave in obravnavamo geokemična ozadja dodatnih 33 elementov (Ag, Al, Ba, Be, Bi, Ca, Ce, Cs, Fe, Ga, Hf, In, K, La, Li, Mg, Mn, Nb, P, Rb, S, Sb, Sc, Se, Sn, Sr, Th, Ti, Tl, U, V, Y in Zr) z namenom, da bi zaokrožili prve sistematične geokemične raziskave tal v mestu Idrija, ter da bi vzpostavili nabor podatkov o elementih v tleh, ki bodo služili kot osnova za spremljanje prihodnjih sprememb v kemijski sestavi tal na preiskovanem območju.Vrednosti ozadja smo določili po razklopu z zlatotopko, preiskali njihovo statistično porazdelitev in primerjali ugotovljene mediane z medianami elementov v evropskih pašniških in mariborskih mestnih tleh, ki so bile vzpostavljene nedavno. Z namenom, da bi prepoznali povezave med elementi, smo uporabili metodo hierarhičnega razvrščanja na podlagi korelacijske matrike in ugotavljali prostorsko porazdelitev najvišjih vrednosti elementov. Rezultati...

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 81%

Geochemical baseline for chemical elements in top- and subsoil of Idrija

Bavec¹

2017

Geologija

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“…The organic carbon content was also similar in this particular soil. Teršič et al (2011) described mercury distribution in very contaminated soil from mining district of Idrija, Slovenia and in their study, Hg bound to organic or mineral soil matter reached from 35% to 40% of the total mercury content. These higher values can be connected with acidic pH because mercury is particularly bound to organic matter under the low pH (Schwesig et al 1999).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…The mercury concentration in these extracts enables an estimation of the amount of Hg from anthropogenic sources. In some cases, concentrated nitric acid combined with HCl (Teršič et al 2011) or H 2 SO 4 (Mailman and Bodaly 2005) is employed for total mercury content determination. It might also be used in sequential extraction procedures to obtain elemental Hg (Bloom et al 2003).…”

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confidence: 99%

Mercury distribution and mobility in contaminated soils from vicinity of waste incineration plant

et al. 2014

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The potential bioavailability of Hg from soil might be estimated by a variety of chemical extraction procedures, differing in the extraction agent, its concentration, the sample weight, and the time of extraction. In this study, a comparative analysis of several extraction methods, commonly used for obtaining the mobile and potentially mobilizable phase of the mercury was carried out. Concentrated HNO 3 , 0.01 mol/L Na 2 S 2 O 3 , 0.05 mol/L EDTA and 0.11 mol/L CH 3 COOH were used as the single extraction agents. Moreover, the sequential extraction was performed. This procedure involved the following fractions: water soluble Hg, Hg extracted in acidic conditions, Hg bound to humic substances, elemental Hg and mercury bound to complexes, and residual Hg. The results showed that even strong acid HNO 3 is unable to release the mercury tightly bound to the soil matrix. This particular method with microwave digestion is commonly used for the estimation of anthropogenic pollution. Conversely, the lowest mercury yield was obtained using the acetic acid as the single extraction agent. In this case, the concentrations were below 0.15% of the total Hg content, which is a proportion generally defined as bioavailable to plants.

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“…The presence of Hg in calcines can be attributed to an incomplete retorting process. This leads to the presence of residual cinnabar that was not converted into gases, and to formation of secondary Hg compounds (Gray et al, 2004;Esbri et al, 2010;Gray et al, 2010;Teršič et al, 2011aTeršič et al, , 2011bTeršič et al, , 2014Rimondi et al, 2012Rimondi et al, , 2014aRimondi et al, , 2014bSmith et al, 2014).…”

Section: Overview Of Mining Activity and Contamination Problemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Idrija is an area where a naturally elevated (2 mg/kg, Gosar et al, 1997) Hg concentration is technologically enhanced due to 500-year long Hg mining. In this area detailed investigations on Hg distribution in different environmental compartments such as calcine, mine tailings, soil, atmosphere, stream sediments, river suspended matter, road sediments and attic dusts were conducted (Biester et al, 2000;Gosar and Čar, 2006;Gosar, 2008;Teršič et al, 2011aTeršič et al, , 2011bTeršič et al, , 2014Bavec et al, 2014;Gosar and Teršič, 2015;Baptista Salazar et al, 2017).…”

Section: Comparison With Idrija Hg Districtmentioning

confidence: 99%

From point source to diffuse source of contaminants: The example of mercury dispersion in the Paglia River (Central Italy)

Colica

Benvenuti

Chiarantini

et al. 2019

CATENA

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Fluvial sediments of the Paglia River, a tributary of Tiber River (Central Italy), are contaminated by mercury (Hg) as a consequence of past mining activity (1846-1981, with main production 1900-1970) in the Monte Amiata district (the 3rd largest Hg producer worldwide). In this study, we combine a geomorphological analysis with geochemical data to try and understand the influence of fluvial dynamics on the spatial distribution of Hg in fluvial sediments over a 43 km segment of the river. By considering the evolution of the river course between 1883 and 2013, eight different geomorphic units (GUs) were recognised, including the active channel bed (baseflow channel and bar), the floodplain, and five orders of terraces. The distribution of Hg in sediments of these GUs reflects the timing of their formation with respect to evolution of the mining activity. In GUs formed before the main peak of mining activity, or after mine closure, sediments show mean Hg contents comparable to, or slightly higher than, the local background, estimated at 2-6 mg/kg; in GUs formed during the peak production, Hg mean contents are definitely higher (up to 26 mg/kg). The current floodplain also shows high contents (mean 19 mg/kg), because of continuous reworking and transport of older contaminated sediments during major flood events. Therefore, the point contaminant sources represented by mining centres evolved into a diffuse source spread over several tens of kilometres. By combining geochemical data with calculated sediment volumes, we estimate that not less than 63 tonnes of Hg are currently contained in the sediments of the investigated river stretch. Such amount of Hg will probably limit for the near future a full land use along the Paglia-Tiber course.

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Distribution and speciation of mercury in soil in the area of an ancient mercury ore roasting site, Frbejžene trate (Idrija area, Slovenia)

Cited by 35 publications

References 45 publications

Geochemical baseline for chemical elements in top- and subsoil of Idrija

Geochemical baseline for chemical elements in top- and subsoil of Idrija

Mercury distribution and mobility in contaminated soils from vicinity of waste incineration plant

From point source to diffuse source of contaminants: The example of mercury dispersion in the Paglia River (Central Italy)

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