Soil and Vegetation Pollution from an Abandoned Mining Area Situated in Hunedoara County, Romania

Abstract

The soils situated near the abandoned mines are highly polluted with metals due to the discharge and dispersion of mine waste into nearby air, water (surface and groundwater) and soil. Heavy metals may be transferred to humans through ingestion, inhalation or dermal absorption and can produce serious health problems affect the nervous, endocrine and immune systems, hematopoietic function and cellular metabolism. This paper investigates the presence of metallic elements from fourteen soil samples (seven sampling points) and thirty-six vegetation samples (different types of leaves, plants, roots and tree barks). The samples were collected from six different sites located in an abandoned mining area and from a point (blank sample) located 5 km in the SV direction of the quarry. The results obtained for soil samples show an overrun of the alert and / or intervention threshold for the following metals: arsenic, cadmium, cobalt, copper, manganese, nickel, lead and zinc. The analytical investigation for vegetation samples indicated that concentration for calcium, magnesium, cadmium, chromium, manganese, nickel, lead, zinc were situated over the normal range in some samples. The analytical investigations were performed by optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). The study�s conclusion indicates that, as result of soil acidic pH and high mobility of some metals, metallic elements migrate from soil to vegetation.

Research Concerning the Possibility of Turning Sterile Soil Into a Fruitful One, by Using Sludge

“…These features allow the development of spontaneous vegetation. In order to be replicated in the economic circuit, it is necessary to choose the species that are suitable for the biological recultivation, in order to be sure that one is retrofitting ecologically these degraded lands and the use of purified sludge [10,11,13] is thus achieved and suitable. Taking into consideration the nutrients in the soil, one selected wheat and barley plants.…”

“…It is noted that the sludge obtained from the purification [10][11][12][13] contains clay particles entrained by the streams in the sewerage network, organic substances from domestic waters [14] and human waste, soluble or insoluble salts, various cationic species and anions retained by the colloidal fraction of organic or mineral nature [1,7].…”

Characterization and Classification of Romanian Wines by Origin A chemometric approach based on some metals and phenolic composition

“…The wine storage conditions could influence the chromium content. Other possible causes of differences in wine chromium levels are related with the soil elemental composition [25], wine varieties and winemaking.…”

Chemical Properties of Forest Soils from Romania West Plain

“…The measure of dissociated hydrogen (H + ) in the soil solution directly influences soil acidity and alkalinity, influencing a wide variety of soil conditions [2]. The soil pH has a decisive role also to immobilize (a basic pH) or to allow the mobility (an acid pH) of heavy metals in soil [3].…”