Lead and copper contamination of soil from industrial activities and firing ranges

Abstract

Lead still remains one of the most thoroughly investigated heavy metals in the environment. Although the identification of lead in soil is a routine matter, its environmental consequence is still much debated because of its potential mobility. We have investigated lead- and copper-contaminated soil from two different areas. One was in an urban area, which formerly had a lead smelter within the city. The other a firing range, in which hundreds of thousands of rounds were fired into a very large mound known as a berm. Homogeneity tests, depth profiles, and Pb-Cu correlations are discussed.

Oxidative Stress Induced by Lead in Chloroplast of Spinach

“…Chloroplast is a site of photosynthesis which is capable of light absorption and transfer, light-induced charge separation, electron transfer between photosystem (PS) II to PSI, water photolysis, oxygen evolution, and CO 2 assimilation. Many reports are available on the accumulation and toxicity of lead in crops and animals [4][5][6][7][8][9][10], among these negative effects, reduction in chlorophyll content, PSII efficiency, photophosphorylation, and enzyme activity in the carbon reactions were reported [11][12][13][14][15][16]. We speculate that the inhibition of heavy metals toxicity to photosynthesis is related to oxidative stress and membrane lipid peroxidation caused by heavy metals, which lead to the destruction of the structure of chloroplasts and the inhibition of photosynthesis.…”

Multivariate statistics to investigate metal contamination in surface soil

“…Trace elements are excellent indicators of the natural variability in soil composition (Huisman et al, 1997;Richard et al, 1999;Blaser et al, 2000;Jeffrey and Hudson, 2001), toxicology, exposure and health risks associated with soil pollution (Tristan et al, 2000;Welp and Brummer, 1997), the effect of individual sources on soil composition (Landsberger et al, 1999;Hajdu and Licsko, 1999;Jensen et al, 2000;Sutherland et al, 2000) and the potential of organisms to be used as bioindicators of soil pollution (Palmer et al, 1998;Marc et al, 1999;Sandaa et al, 1999;Watmough, 1999).…”

The effects of application of agricultural wastes to firing range soil on metal accumulation inIpomoea aquaticaand soil metal bioavailability

“…These metal particulates can be transformed into mobilised compounds that can pose a threat to soil and groundwater. [7][8][9] Unlike organic contaminants, heavy metals are not biodegradable. Therefore, the heavy metals will persist for a long period of time in soils.…”