Metal Contents and Pollution Indices Assessment of Surface Water, Soil, and Sediment from the Arieș River Basin Mining Area, Romania

Abstract

The current study was conducted to assess the level and spatial distribution of metal pollution in surface water, soil, and sediment samples from the Arieș River basin, located in central Romania, an area impacted by various mining and industrial operations. Several pollution indices, spatial distributions, cluster analyses, principal component analyses, and heat maps were applied for evaluating the contamination level with Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb, Mn, As, and Hg in the area. Based on the results of the Heavy-Metal Pollution Index and of the Heavy-Metal Evaluation Index of the surface-water samples, the middle part of the Arieș River basin, near and downstream of the gold mine impoundment, was characterized by high pollution levels. The metal concentration was higher near the tailing impoundment, with increased levels of Cu, Ni, Zn, and Pb in the soil samples and As, Cd, Pb, Na, K, Ca, Mn, and Al in the sediment samples. Ca (23.7–219 mg/L), Mg (2.55–18.30 mg/L), K (0.64–14.70 mg/L), Al (0.06–22.80 mg/L), and Mn (0.03–22.40 mg/L) had the most remarkable spatial variation among the surface-water samples, while various metal contents fluctuated strongly among the sampling locations. Al varied from 743 to 19,8 mg/kg, Fe from 529 to 11,4 mg/kg, Ca from 2316 to 11,8 mg/kg, and Mg from 967 to 2547 mg/kg in the soil samples, and Al varied from 3106 to 8022 mg/kg, Fe from 314 to 5982 mg/kg, Ca from 1367 to 8308 mg/kg, and Mg from 412 to 1913 mg/kg in the sediment samples. The Potential Ecological Risk Index values for soil and sediments were in the orders Cu > Ni > Pb > Hg > Cr > As > Mn > Zn > Cd and As > Cu > Cr > Cd > Pb > Ni > Hg > Mn > Zn, respectively, and the highest values were found around the gold mine impoundment.

WITHDRAWN: Soil-Quality Status in the Reclaimed Land of Arid Region

“…HM Content Evaluation in Soil ExtractsSimulation of HM concentrations by indices can show how HM accumulation in soils and water can impair plant, human, and animal health (Asmoay, 2017, Asmoay et al, 2019; Zhang et al, 2022). P sum levels differed between 0.43 and 4.43 (Table 1 & Fig.6), which stated that the HM concentrations in the soil extracts had no harmful impact on health(Hakanson, 1980;Hooda, 2010;Gao et al, 2013); Ming, 2014;Moldovan et al, 2022). RI values varied from 2.02 to 9.66 (Table1and Fig.7), showing a minimal ecological risk associated with the concentrations of HM in soil extracts(Hakanson, 1980;Hooda, 2010;Yan et al, 2022).…”

Contamination Assessment of Toxic Elements in River Sediments from Baia Mare, Romania—Extreme Pollution from Mining Activities

“…Extremely high concentrations were also observed in other river sediments from different mining sites around the globe (Table 3). In a recent study, Moldovan et al [53] reported the concentrations of toxic elements in stream sediments of the Aries , River, Romania. Although this river drains an important area where intensive mining activities took place since Roman times, the concentrations were very low (Table 3).…”

Evaluation of the source, distribution and risk of metal contaminated stream sediment.

“…It is defined as the concentration of metal in the sample divided by the concentration of metal in the background system. It is expressed mathematically in equation ( 8) (Feher et al 2016;Moldovan et al 2022)…”