Valuable Secondary Habitats or Hazardous Ecological Traps? Environmental Risk Assessment of Minor and Trace Elements in Fly Ash Deposits across the Czech Republic

Abstract

Deposits of coal combustion wastes, especially fly ash, are sources of environmental and health risks in industrial regions. Recently, fly ash deposits have been reported as habitat surrogates for some threatened arthropods in Central Europe. However, the potential environmental risks of fly ash have not yet been assessed in the region. We analysed concentrations of 19 minor and trace elements in 19 lignite combustion waste deposits in the Czech Republic. We assessed their environmental risks by comparison with the national and EU legislation limits, and with several commonly used indices. Over 50% of the samples exceeded the Czech national limits for As, Cu, V, or Zn, whilst only V exceeded the EU limits. For some studied elements, the high-risk indices were detected in several localities. Nevertheless, the measured water characteristics, the long-term presence of fly ash, previous leaching by acid rains, and the low amount of organic matter altogether can infer low biological availability of these elements. We presume the revealed high concentrations of some heavy metals at some studied sites can be harmful for some colonising species. Nevertheless, more ecotoxicological research on particular species is needed for final decision on their conservation potential for terrestrial and freshwater biota.

Mayfly Ephemera glaucops (Ephemeroptera, Ephemeridae) recorded in the Czech Republic after almost a century

“…However, the biota of kaolin pits is still unknown with the exception of dragonflies and aquatic beetles ( Boukal et al 2007 , Bobrek 2020 ). On the other hand, these localities could also serve as ecological traps, where the species cannot survive due to different stressors, such as unpredictable disturbances due to soil instability or extreme ion concentrations ( Harabiš and Dolný 2012 , Bartošová et al 2019 , Chmelová et al 2021 ).…”

The Diagnostics of Power Boilers in Terms of Their Sustainability

“…The transformation of conventional energy is currently being developed. According to the literature data [3], fly ash resulting from coal combustion is a source of threat to the environment. The increasing demand for energy and the resulting environmental problems are generating worldwide interest in the development of clean and efficient alternative energy sources that use ecological processes and materials [4].…”