Ranges of B, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Pb, Sr, Tl, and Zn Concentrations and Isotope Ratios in Environmental Matrices from an Urban Area

Abstract

Isotopic information may provide powerful insight into the elemental cycling processes which occur in natural compartments. Further implementation of isotopic techniques in natural sciences requires a better understanding of the range of elemental and isotopic compositional variability in environmental matrices. This study assesses the local-scale concentration and isotopic composition variability of nine elements: boron (B), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), lead (Pb), strontium (Sr), thallium (Tl), and zinc (Zn) in lysimetric waters, mushrooms, litter, needles, leaves, and lichens. Sequential extractions were also performed on soil samples from 6 depth profiles providing more detailed information on the variability of elemental concentrations and isotope ratios between the elemental pools present in soil. For most of the sample types studied the range of isotopic variability between samples spans almost the entire ranges reported in the literature for natural samples. These results represent a starting point for discussing the role of natural variability in isotopic studies (for example, as a limiting factor in the use of isotopic mixing models) and a baseline for future in-depth studies examining the controls on isotope fraction in natural systems.

Longitudinal isotope ratio variations in human hair and nails

“…The 87 Sr/ 86 Sr values for the segmented hair samples from residents of Luleå, Sweden ranged from 0.7228 to 0.7335 (Figure 2) and correspond well with previously published ranges for soils, waters and plant material in Luleå, Sweden 0.729-0.735 (Rodushkin et al, 2016;Pallavicini et al, 2018). The values for the Belgian (Ghent) resident 0.7082-0.7106 (Figure 2) correspond well with the value for the Belgian CRM, as well as with the previously published ranges for Central-Northern Belgium stated above and the recent 87 Sr/ 86 Sr range for bioavailable Sr in Destelbergen, municipality bordering Ghent, of 0.7093-0.7104 (Dalle et al, submitted).…”

“…Although this observed change in δ 114 Cd is still partially within the between-run repeatability, it can be hypothesised that this indicates preferential ab/adsorption of the heavier Cd isotopes in hair from the environment compared to the endogenous composition. This is further supported by the range of δ 114 Cd for this subject, -0.32 to -0.28‰, overlapping with the published range for environmental samples (top soils, waters and lichens) from Luleå, -0.32 to 0.42‰ (Pallavicini et al, 2018).…”

“…A simple mixing model may be assumed for the subjects that changed residence and diet (Subject 1 and 6 in Table 1), as the δ 56 Fe in the segmented hair has strong correlation (R 2 of 0.91 and 0.54) with the inverse of the Fe concentration (Figure 5), where the intercepts were 0.47 and 0.49‰. The main source of external contamination of Fe in hair is most likely terrigenous dust particles (Ponzetta et al, 1998;Pallavicini et al, 2018;Hu et al, 2019;Fauberteau et al, 2021), but solely mechanical deposition of these particles is unlikely as these intercepts are notably heavier than the average for crustal igneous rocks of δ 56 Fe, 0.09 ± 0.08‰, as well as than the average δ 56 Fe for the top soils sampled in Luleå, 0.07 ± 0.13‰, (Pallavicini et al, 2018), indicating a possible fractionation with preferential ab/adsorption of the heavier Fe isotopes or preferential desorption of light Fe isotopes after deposition on hair (Pallavicini et al, 2018;Pontér et al, 2021).…”

“…For three of the subjects (Subjects 1, 4, and 6 in Table 1), a simple binary mixing model may be assumed between an endogenous and external source, as the δ 65 Cu in the segmented hair displays correlation (R 2 of 0.91, 0.81, 0.77) with the inverse of the Cu concentration (Figure 5), where the intercepts are negative for all subjects. This suggests that there is a potential fractionation when Cu ions migrate from the liquid to solid phase, for instance when showering or bathing, where there is preferential ab/adsorption of light Cu isotope onto the hair or preferential desorption of heavy Cu isotopes after deposition on the hair surface (Wang, Chen and Zhang, 2017;Pallavicini et al, 2018).…”

Lithiation of white button mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus) using lithium-fortified substrate: effect of fortification levels on Li uptake and on other trace elements

“…Thallium has been determined in individual fruiting bodies of 14 mushrooms at varying concentrations, in the range from < 0.035 mg kg −1 dw in Amanita rubescens to 1.9 mg kg −1 dw in Lactarius hepaticus (Parisis and Van den Heede, 1992 ). The median concentration was 0.009 mg kg −1 dw (mean 0.015 mg kg −1 dw and ranged from 0.002 to 0.081 mg kg −1 dw) in several species of mushroom collected from forested urban areas (Pallavicini et al 2018 ). The mushrooms Suillus luteus , Suillus bovinus , B. edulis , Laccaria amethystina and Tricholoma flavovirens showed Tl in a concentration range of 0.027 ± 0.012 to 0.10 ± 0.08 mg kg −1 dw, while the concentration in the wood decomposer Armillaria solidipes was 0.015 ± 0.003 mg kg −1 dw (Falandysz et al 2001 ).…”