Standards for the contents of heavy metals and metalloids in soils

Abstract

In line with the present day ecological and toxicological data obtained by Dutch ecologists, heavy metals/metalloids form the following succession according to their hazard degree in soils: Se > Tl > Sb > Cd > V > Hg > Ni > Cu > Cr > As > Ba. This sequence substantially differs from the succession of heavy elements presented in the general toxicological GOST (State Norms and Standards) 17.4.1.02 8, which considers As, Cd, Hg, Se, Pb, and Zn to be strongly hazardous elements, whereas Co, Ni, Mo, Sb, and Cr to be moderately hazardous. As compared to the general toxicological approach, the hazard of lead, zinc, and cobalt is lower in soils, and that of vanadium, antimony, and barium is higher. The new sequence also differs from that of the metal hazard in soils according to the Russian standard on the maximal permissible concentration of mobile metal forms (MPC mob) : Cu > Ni > Co > Cr > Zn. Neither an MPC mob nor an APC mob has been adopted for strongly hazardous thallium, selenium, and vanadium in Russia. The content of heavy metals in contami nated soils is very unevenly studied: 11 of them, i.e., Cu, Zn, Pb, Ni, Cd, Cr, As, Mn, Co, Hg, and Se, are better known, while the rest, much worse, although there are dangerous elements (Ba, V, Tl) among them.

Standardization of Heavy Metals and Oil Content by Biological Indicators in the Southern Chernozems of the Taman

“…However, such a sequence of HMs by their environmental hazard for soils does not always coincide with the previously obtained data on other types of soils (Van de Plassche & De Bruijn, 1992;Crommentuijn et al, 1997;Vodyanitsky 2012). It is possible that the higher toxicity of chromium in chernozems is due to the fact that chromium is more mobileze in higher alkaline and oxidizing conditions (Zachara et al, 1989), and low toxicity of lead is due to a higher content of humic acids in chernozems, which bind to the lead more strongly than copper (Morin et al, 1999;Mаnceau et al, 2002).…”

Transformation of dry-steppe soils under long-term agrogenic impacts in the area of ancient Olbia

“…The virgin (reference) soil is richer in the bulk P (by 1.55 times), Ca (by 1.44 times), and Co (by 1.24 times) and is impoverished in As, V, and Ni. The latter three ele m ents are considered to be elements o f m oderate tox icity (V > N i > As) [6], and their concentrations in the old-arable soil are 1.14-1.16 (for V and N i) and 1.66 times (As) higher than those in the virgin soil. Agrogenic transformation of dry steppe soils.…”

Algae and Cyanobacteria in Soils of Moscow

“…which represent the sum of the values of Ko > 1 multiplied by their weights p, which depend on the hazard classes of the elements (p = 1.5 for the elements of hazard class I, and p = 1.0 for the elements of hazard class II) [41]. The statistical analysis of the diversity of diatom algae depending on soils properties (pH, exchangeable ammonium) and soil contamination with HMs and salts was performed by the regression tree method using S-Plus software (MathSoft, 1999).…”