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Heavy Metals in the Environment – Causes and Consequences

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A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Earth Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2021) | Viewed by 35141

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Prof. Dr. Wojciech Zgłobicki

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Institute of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Maria Curie Sklodowska University, 20-718 Lublin, Poland
Interests: hillslope geomorphology; geochemistry; heavy metals; geotourism; geoheritage; landscape ecology; soil and gully erosion
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Dear Colleagues,

One of the consequences of industrial and transport development is the increase of heavy metal content in the environment. Human activity is manifested in the creation of new migration routes for these elements, accelerating their circulation and releasing such elements as Pb, Zn, and Cd, which until now have been immobilized in the rocks. The intensification of these negative phenomena was brought about by the Industrial Revolution of the 18th century, which initiated a period of irreversible changes, often of a global nature. The highest heavy metal emissions in industrialized countries occurred in the 1960s and 1970s. However, these emissions remain high in developing countries. Heavy metals are found in the air we breathe and the food we eat. This contributes to an increased incidence of many diseases.

Therefore, determining the contemporary levels of heavy metal pollution of air, water, soil, and sediments; trends in concentration changes; determinants of these processes; and threats to living organisms associated with increased levels in the environment becomes extremely important. It is particularly crucial to investigate elements that are toxic to humans, such as lead, cadmium, and mercury. The thematic scope of this SI includes the assessment of the pollution level and the associated health risk, determining the main sources of heavy metal emissions into the environment, spatial conditions for the diversity of their concentration in the environment, contemporary trends in content changes, methods for reducing the environmental risk associated with these elements, and remediation of contaminated components. Studies involving more than one element of the environment will be particularly valuable.

Prof. Dr. Wojciech Zgłobicki
Guest Editor

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Keywords

Air, water, and soil pollution
Geochemistry
Heavy metals
Health risk
Human impact
Street dust
Urban environment

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Published Papers (11 papers)

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Editorial

Jump to: Research

4 pages, 196 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Special Issue on Heavy Metals in the Environment—Causes and Consequences

by Wojciech Zgłobicki

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(2), 835; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12020835 - 14 Jan 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1942

Abstract

The modification of the chemical composition of environment components, including the concentration of heavy metals, is one of the consequences of the development of human societies [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Heavy Metals in the Environment – Causes and Consequences)

Research

Jump to: Editorial

20 pages, 3583 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Spatial Variation of Water Chemistry in Aries River Catchment, Western Romania

by Ana Moldovan, Maria-Alexandra Hoaghia, Anamaria Iulia Török, Marius Roman, Ionut Cornel Mirea, Reka Barabas, Valer Micle and Oana Cadar

Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(14), 6592; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11146592 - 17 Jul 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3750

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the quality and vulnerability of surface water (Aries River catchment) in order to identify the impact of past mining activities. For this purpose, the pollution and water quality indices, Piper and Durov plots, as well vulnerability modeling maps were used. The obtained results indicate that the water samples were contaminated with As, Fe, Mn, Pb and have relatively high concentrations of SO₄²⁻, HCO₃⁻, TDS, Ca, K, Mg and high values for the electrical conductivity. Possible sources of the high content of chemicals could be the natural processes or the inputs of the mine drainage. Generally, according to the pollution indices, which were correlated to high concentrations of heavy metals, especially with Pb, Fe and Mn, the water samples were characterized by heavy metals pollution. The water quality index classified the studied water samples into five different classes of quality, namely: unsuitable for drinking, poor, medium, good and excellent quality. Similarly, medium, high and very high vulnerability classes were observed. The Durov and Piper plots classified the waters into Mg-HCO₃⁻ and Ca-Cl⁻ types. The past and present mining activities clearly change the water chemistry and alter the quality of the Aries River, with the water requiring specific treatments before use. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Heavy Metals in the Environment – Causes and Consequences)

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13 pages, 2237 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Heavy Metals in Urban Street Dust: Health Risk Assessment (Lublin City, E Poland)

by Wojciech Zgłobicki and Małgorzata Telecka

Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(9), 4092; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11094092 - 30 Apr 2021

Cited by 17 | Viewed by 3335

Abstract

Various pollutants, including heavy metals, present in street dust can pose a threat to the health of city dwellers. So far, studies on levels of this threat have been carried out mainly in large cities, characterised by considerable road traffic and industrial activity. This paper assesses the levels of hazard index and cancer risk for Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn contained in street dust collected in 2013 and 2018 at 62 points located in different parts of a small/medium-sized city (Lublin, E Poland). Heavy metals contents were analysed by means of XRF spectrometry (in the fraction <63 µm). Despite the fact that the concentrations of some elements (Zn, Cd and Cu) in street dust are 6–7 times higher than the geochemical background, this does not pose a risk of non-carcinogenic effects. The average hazard index (HI) for the individual elements reaches very low levels (<0.01). Cancer risk (CR) for adults is below the less strict limit of 10⁻⁴, and in the case of Pb, it is even lower than values of the order of 10⁻⁶, whereas for children, CR levels exceed the standards and are of the order of 10⁻⁴, except for Pb. For all metals except Cr, the health risk was higher in 2013 than in 2018. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Heavy Metals in the Environment – Causes and Consequences)

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10 pages, 1214 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Assessment of Heavy Metal Contamination in Two Edible Fish Species and Water from North Patagonia Estuary

by Pablo Fierro, Jaime Tapia, Carlos Bertrán, Cristina Acuña and Luis Vargas-Chacoff

Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(6), 2492; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11062492 - 11 Mar 2021

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2760

Abstract

Estuaries worldwide have been severely degraded and become reservoirs for many types of pollutants, such as heavy metals. This study investigated the levels of Cd, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn in water and whole fish. We sampled 40 juvenile silversides Odontesthes regia and 41 juvenile puye Galaxias maculatus from the Valdivia River estuary, adjacent to the urban area in southern South America (Chile). Samples were analyzed using a flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer. In water samples, metals except Zn were mostly below the detection limits and all metals were below the maximum levels established by local guidelines in this estuary. In whole fish samples, concentrations of Cu, Zn, Pb, Mn, and Cd were significantly higher in puyes than in silversides. Additionally, Zn, Pb, and Mn were correlated to body length and weight in puyes, whereas Cd was correlated to body length in silversides. The mean concentration of heavy metals in silverside and puyes were higher than those reported in the literature. In silversides, all heavy metal levels were below the limits permitted by current legislation (FAO), whereas in puyes Pb and Cd levels were above the recommended maximum level established by international guidelines, therefore putting the human population at risk. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Heavy Metals in the Environment – Causes and Consequences)

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10 pages, 1938 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Effect of Different Cleaning Methods on Needles for Assessing the Atmospheric Heavy Metal Retention Capacity of Three Coniferous Trees

by Tong Liu, Mei Zhang, Yihan Wang, Lili Tang, Kefan Wang and Fuchen Shi

Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(4), 1668; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11041668 - 12 Feb 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1834

Abstract

Urban air pollution has received increasing attention in recent years. To investigate the interaction between several heavy metal elements and the degree of atmospheric pollution, the leaves of three evergreen tree species—Chinese juniper (Juniperus chinensis L.), dragon juniper (Juniperus chinensis L. ‘Kaizuca’), and cedar (Cedrus deodara (Roxb. ex D.Don) G.Don)—were collected from main road intersections in the urban area of Tianjin, China. Two different treatments—water washing (WW) and ethanol washing (EW)—were used, and the contents of Cu, Mn, Cd, and Zn were measured in both washed and unwashed (UW) leaves. It was found that the heavy metal contents within Chinese juniper and dragon juniper were ranked as Mn > Zn > Cu > Cd, and the metal accumulation index (MAI) value was higher for dragon juniper. For the three plants, water washed off 5.36% to 58.58% of the total heavy metals in the needles, while ethanol washed off 16.08% to 71.60% of the total. Both washes were more effective for Cu, Zn, and Cd, and especially for the element Cd. Ethanol could clean off 38.64% to 71.60% of the total Cd from the leaves. Ethanol had a better elution effect compared to water, and the trend of the Cd content in the leaves of the three plants showed a change after the use of different washing methods, which suggests that the water washing may have masked the real difference. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Heavy Metals in the Environment – Causes and Consequences)

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13 pages, 2063 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effects of Landscape Features on the Roadside Soil Heavy Metal Distribution in a Tropical Area in Southwest China

by Yuhong Dong, Shiliang Liu, Yongxiu Sun, Yixuan Liu and Fangfang Wang

Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(4), 1408; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11041408 - 4 Feb 2021

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2555

Abstract

Soil heavy metals along roadsides pose a great threat to ecosystems while their spatial variations and influencing factors still remain unclear in some regions, especially in tropical areas with complex landscape characteristics. Our study was carried out to determine how the land use, vegetation characteristics, topographical factors and distance to the road affect the soil heavy metal distribution. Taking Jinghong county in Yunnan Province, Southwest China as a case, soil samples were collected at different distances off roads and canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) methods were used to determine the relative importance of different factors. Our results showed that heavy metal sources were obtained mainly from the road, based on the principle component analysis (PCA) identification. There were no obvious trends of soil quality index (SQI) with distance to the road in natural soils, while SQI nutrients and SQI metals in farmlands had a decreasing and increasing trend, respectively, which could both be expressed by logarithm models. However, soil properties showed little differences for road levels while they showed significant differences under land use types. The CCA further showed that heavy metal variations in natural soils were jointly affected by distance, plant coverage, relative elevation and soil properties in decreasing order. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Heavy Metals in the Environment – Causes and Consequences)

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16 pages, 2357 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Arundo donax L. Biomass Production in a Polluted Area: Effects of Two Harvest Timings on Heavy Metals Uptake

by Tommaso Danelli, Alessio Sepulcri, Giacomo Masetti, Federico Colombo, Stefano Sangiorgio, Elena Cassani, Simone Anelli, Fabrizio Adani and Roberto Pilu

Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(3), 1147; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11031147 - 27 Jan 2021

Cited by 28 | Viewed by 3583

Abstract

Within the framework of energy biomass production, Arundo donax L. is very promising for its capability to grow on marginal lands with high yields. This potential can be realized in unused polluted areas where the energy production can be coupled with phytoremediation, and harvested biomass represents a resource and a means to remove contaminants from the soil. Two main processes are considered to evaluate A. donax L. biomass as an energy crop, determined by the timing of harvest: anaerobic digestion with fresh biomass before winter and combustion (e.g., pyrolysis and gasification) of dry canes in late winter. The aim of this work was to evaluate the use of A. donax L. in an area polluted by heavy metals for phytoextraction and energy production at two different harvest times (October and February). For that purpose, we established in polluted area in northern Italy (Caffaro area, Brescia) an experimental field of A. donax, and included switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) and mixed meadow species as controls. The results obtained by ICP-MS analysis performed on harvested biomasses highlighted a differential uptake of heavy metals depending on harvest time. In particular, considering the yield in the third year, A. donax was able to remove from the soil 3.87 kg ha⁻¹ of Zn, 2.09 kg ha⁻¹ of Cu and 0.007 kg ha⁻¹ of Cd when harvested in October. Production of A. donax L. for anaerobic digestion or combustion in polluted areas represents a potential solution for both energy production and phytoextraction of heavy metals, in particular Cu, Zn and Cd. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Heavy Metals in the Environment – Causes and Consequences)

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13 pages, 1522 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Risk Assessment of Soil Contamination with Heavy Metals from Municipal Sewage Sludge

by Jolanta Latosińska, Robert Kowalik and Jarosław Gawdzik

Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(2), 548; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11020548 - 8 Jan 2021

Cited by 70 | Viewed by 5139

Abstract

Sewage sludge (SS) is a by-product of processes conducted during the treatment of wastewater. It can be used in many different ways. One of them is the use of SS in agriculture as an organic fertiliser, but the main criterion for such use is the heavy metals (HMs) content. Knowledge of the total content of HMs in SS does not translate into the danger it may pose. The toxicity of metals is largely dependent on their mobility. The mobility of SS from three different wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, which were characterised by an increased zinc content, was examined in this study. The aim of the study was to prove whether the high level of zinc in SS actually disqualifies the possibility of its natural use. Calculations were made for five environmental hazard indicators: the geoaccumulation index of heavy metals in soil (I_geo), potential environmental risk indicator (PERI), risk assessment code (RAC), environmental risk factor (ERF), and the authors’ own environmental risk determinant (ERD) indicator. The obtained results show how important mobility analysis is when assessing the possibility of natural use of SS. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Heavy Metals in the Environment – Causes and Consequences)

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20 pages, 719 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Chemistry and Microbiology of Urban Roof Runoff in Kraków, Poland with Ecological and Health Risk Implications

by Magdalena Strzebońska, Agnieszka Gruszecka-Kosowska and Anna Kostka

Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(23), 8554; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10238554 - 29 Nov 2020

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2317

Abstract

Urban rainwater samples, collected in various districts of Kraków during the period from the spring of 2019 to the winter of 2020, were investigated, and relevant risk implications were assessed. The contents of 31 components were determined, including: bacteria, fungi, pH, EC, Cl^-, N-NO₃, P-PO₄, SO₄^2-, SiO₂, K, Mg, Ag, Al, Ba, Ca, Cu, K, Mg, Mo, Na, Pb, Sb, and Zn. The highest contents of the investigated elements were determined in the industrial (eastern) part of Kraków. The values of toxicity potential were <1, indicating a lack of ecological risk. The value of contamination degree indicated moderate rainwater contamination in all analyzed elements (C_deg = 9.44). The total non-carcinogenic risk values, in both adults (hazard quotient (HQ) = 1.38) and children (HQ = 2.54), exceeded the acceptable level of one. Regarding individual elements in dermal contact, the acceptable level of 1 × 10⁻⁶ was exceeded in Pb (adults carcinogenic risk (CR) = 4.87 × 10⁻⁵, children CR = 2.23 × 10⁻⁵). The contents of the analyzed chemical compounds did not exceed the permissible levels adopted for drinking water; however, rainwater was significantly contaminated with respect to its microbiological parameters. Rainwater was suitable for non-potable use. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Heavy Metals in the Environment – Causes and Consequences)

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18 pages, 2234 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Immobilization of Heavy Metals in Contaminated Soils—Performance Assessment in Conditions Similar to a Real Scenario

by Antonio A. S. Correia, Martim P. S. R. Matos, Ana R. Gomes and Maria G. Rasteiro

Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(22), 7950; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10227950 - 10 Nov 2020

Cited by 22 | Viewed by 3678

Abstract

Soil “health” is becoming an increasing concern of modern societies, namely, at the European level, considering its importance to the fields of food, clean water, biodiversity, and even climate change control. On the other hand, human activities are contributing more and more to induce contamination in soils, especially in industrialized societies. This experimental work studies different additives (carbon nanotubes, clay, and Portland cement) with the aim to evaluate their effect on heavy metals, HMs (lead, cooper, nickel, and zinc) immobilization in a contaminated soil in conditions similar to a real scenario. Suspension adsorption tests (fluid-like condition) were performed aiming to supply preliminary information about the adsorption capacity of the soil towards the different HMs tested, while percolation tests (solid-like conditions) were performed aiming to evaluate the HMs immobilization by different additives in conditions similar to a real situation of soil contamination. Results showed that soil particles alone were able to retain considerable amounts of HMs (especially Pb and Cu) which is linked to their fine grain size and the soil high organic matter content. In conditions of good dispersion of the additives, addition of carbon nanotubes or clay can rise the HMs adsorption, except in the case of Zn²⁺ due to its low electronegativity and high mobility. Moreover, the addition of cement to the soil showed a high capacity to immobilize the HMs which is due to the chemical fixation of the HMs to binder hydration products. In this case, HMs immobilization comes associated with a soil stabilization strategy. The results allow to conclude that the additives, carbon nanotubes and clay, have the potential to minimize HMs mobility in contaminated soils and can be a valid alternative to the usual additive, Portland cement, when tested in conditions similar to a real on-site situation, if the objective is not to induce also soil stabilization, for instance, to enable its use for construction purposes. The results obtained can help designers and decision-makers in the choice of the best materials to remediate HMs contaminated soils. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Heavy Metals in the Environment – Causes and Consequences)

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21 pages, 6238 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Metal Mobility in Afforested Sites of an Abandoned Zn-Pb Ore Mining Area

by Urszula Aleksander-Kwaterczak and Dariusz Ciszewski

Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(17), 6041; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10176041 - 31 Aug 2020

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2614

Abstract

Heaps of waste material constitute a serious environmental problem in regions where the historical exploitation and processing of metal ores has taken place. The presented paper describes the trace metal distribution in selected heaps in the lead-zinc mining area of an abandoned mine in Poland, as well as the soil horizons beneath. The study aims at the estimation of the metal remobilization rate in vertical profiles in the spontaneously afforested area in the context of the potential danger it poses to the local groundwater. Individual samples were taken from profiles dug in heaps found in deciduous and coniferous forests. The bulk density, pH, organic matter and carbonate content, as well as the concentration and chemical forms of metals were analysed. Buffer properties and the mineralogical composition were also determined for the selected samples. The investigation indicates excessive cadmium, zinc and lead concentrations in the analysed heap material and the significant secondary enrichment of former soil horizons. A large percentage of these metals occur in potentially mobile forms. It suggests that, despite the high pH of the heap material and the good buffer properties of soil, cadmium and to a lesser extent, zinc, has migrated downwards to depths of at least several dozen centimetres over a period of about 200 years. This is related to soil acidity, particularly in profiles abundant in organic matter resulting from the encroachment of forest communities, particularly of coniferous forest. Spontaneous afforestation forming the litter cover contribute to the stabilization of the heap material and limiting groundwater pollution. Even though specific remediation measures are not needed in this area, it requires long-term monitoring. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Heavy Metals in the Environment – Causes and Consequences)

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