Identification and mapping of heavy metal pollution in soils of a sports ground in Galway City, Ireland, using a portable XRF analyser and GIS

Abstract

Heavy metals in urban soils continue to attract attention because of their potential long-term effects on human health. During a previous investigation of urban soils in Galway City, Ireland, a pollution hotspot of Pb, Cu, Zn and As was identified in the sports ground of South Park in the Claddagh. The sports ground was formerly a rubbish dumping site for both municipal and industrial wastes. In the present study, a portable X-ray fluorescence (PXRF) analyser was used to obtain rapid in-situ elemental analyses of the topsoil (depth: about 5-10 cm) at 200 locations on a 20 x 20-m grid in South Park. Extremely high values of the pollutants were found, with maximum values of Pb, Zn, Cu and As of 10,297, 24,716, 2224 and 744 mg/kg soil, respectively. High values occur particularly where the topsoil cover is thin, whereas lower values were found in areas where imported topsoil covers the polluted substrate. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) techniques were applied to the dataset to create elemental spatial distribution maps, three-dimensional images and interpretive hazard maps of the pollutants in the study area. Immediate action to remediate the contaminated topsoil is recommended to safeguard the health of children who play at the sports ground.

The use of FPXRF in the determinations of selected trace elements in historic mining soils in the Holy Cross Mts., south-central Poland

“…The FPXRF anal y sis has found ap pli ca tions in many ar eas, in clud ing de ter mi na tions of trace el e ments in var i ous en vi ronmen tal com part ments, in clud ing soils (Drake et al, 2003;Melquiades and Appoloni, 2004;Mäkinen et al, 2005;Kilbride et al, 2006;Carr et al, 2008;Hürkamp et al, 2009;Radu and Di a mond, 2009;Higueras et al, 2012;Stamm and Hoogestraat, 2012;Bosco, 2013). Many the o ret i cal and prac tical as pects of this an a lyt i cal method can be found in the su perb com pen dium by Potts and West (2008).…”

Spatial Assessment of Cancer Incidences and the Risks of Industrial Wastewater Emission in China

“…Due to water shortage problems and a huge population base, nearly 700 million Chinese people have to use water contaminated with chemicals and biological wastes [30]. Severe water pollution has caused long-term human health risks, including the outbreaks of cancers, namely "cancer villages" [3,22,31]. Both socioeconomic transitions and physical/natural conditions have influenced the spatial patterns of water pollution and cancer incidences in China.…”

Spatial distribution of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans in soil around a municipal solid waste incinerator

“…To analyze the spatial characteristics of PCDD/Fs in ambient soil samples around the MSWI, the widely used ordinary kriging interpolation technique was selected to create a contour map of PCDD/Fs concentrations in the soil samples (Fig. 2) (Dao et al 2012;Carr et al 2008).…”