Concentration and Distribution of Heavy Metals in Soils, Volume II

A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Mineralogy and Biogeochemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2023) | Viewed by 7118

Special Issue Editor

Civil Engineering Department, Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción, Concepción, Chile
Interests: soil and groundwater contamination; potentially toxic elements
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue will provide an interdisciplinary viewpoint applying new  knowledge-based to study the contamination of soils and plants and their location in distintic climatic, and geochemical conditions. This labour requires the development of diverse and holistic approaches (multi-media, multi-analytic and multi-elemental) to evaluate and prevent the pollution. Due to progressive population expansion to abandoned industrial areas as well as other mining, urban, traffic and military areas the research of innovative technology of soil modeling process and remediation is becoming an important theme. Papers of occurrence, migration and accumulation of rare earth and potentially toxic elements in soils and dust (street, attic and household), from different natural (e.g. volcanic activity, forest fire, soil erosion, biological material) and anthropogenic (e.g. vehicular emission, industy, metalurgy, mining, combustion) sources are welcome. The research of dynamics of native and non-native potentially harmful elements and their spatial distribution in soils are necessary for the restoration of polluted sites.

Dr. Pedro Tume
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • potentially toxic elements
  • monitoring
  • polluted area
  • health risk assessment
  • hyperaccumulator plants
  • geochemical baseline

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

29 pages, 4933 KiB  
Article
Magnetic and Geochemical Properties of Zagreb City Area Soils
by Stanislav Frančišković-Bilinski, Josip Peco, Sanja Sakan, Dragana Đorđević and Dejan Inđić
Minerals 2023, 13(12), 1481; https://doi.org/10.3390/min13121481 - 24 Nov 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1176
Abstract
This study was performed to derive the first insight into the distribution of low-field volume magnetic susceptibility (MS) throughout Zagreb city, based on in situ field measurements. The most interesting locations were selected for soil sampling and their geochemical contents were determined using [...] Read more.
This study was performed to derive the first insight into the distribution of low-field volume magnetic susceptibility (MS) throughout Zagreb city, based on in situ field measurements. The most interesting locations were selected for soil sampling and their geochemical contents were determined using ICP-OES. A geostatistical approach was applied to the MS and geochemical results. A median of 0.245 × 10−3 SI units was proposed as the average MS value in Zagreb. The mean concentrations of heavy metals in Zagreb’s soils (in µg/g) are Pb (36.82), Zn (87.77), Cu (30.84), Cd (0.66), Cr (29.04), Co (11.89), and Ni (28.40), and these measurements are relatively low in comparison to the Croatian legislation and the European and world average. Boxplot analyses demonstrate that 45% of the studied elements do not feature any anomalies, while most of the remaining elements indicate only one weak anomaly located at the same site as the MS anomalies. Our statistical analysis found significant correlations between MS and the following elements: Cd, Co, Fe, Mn, Na, Pb, Sb, and Zn. In situ MS measurements proved to be an efficient tool for the initial screening of large areas with elevated concentrations of heavy elements, enabling the cheap and fast assessment of the state of the environment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Concentration and Distribution of Heavy Metals in Soils, Volume II)
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26 pages, 4675 KiB  
Article
Analysis and Evaluation of Concentrations of Potentially Toxic Elements in Landfills in the Araucanía Region, Chile
by Pedro Tume, Óscar Cornejo, Carolina Rubio, Bernardo Sepúlveda, Núria Roca and Jaume Bech
Minerals 2023, 13(8), 1033; https://doi.org/10.3390/min13081033 - 1 Aug 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1529
Abstract
This preliminary study focuses on three abandoned sites, located in the communes of Temuco, Villarrica, and Lonquimay, in the Araucanía Region, Chile. Two of the sites were classified as illegal landfills and one was a former landfill. Seventy-three surface samples were taken, of [...] Read more.
This preliminary study focuses on three abandoned sites, located in the communes of Temuco, Villarrica, and Lonquimay, in the Araucanía Region, Chile. Two of the sites were classified as illegal landfills and one was a former landfill. Seventy-three surface samples were taken, of which 32 were from site S1, 20 were from site S2, and 21 were from site S3. The objectives of this study were (1) to establish the background values of trace metals present in soils through different statistical methods, (2) to determine the level of contamination and possible ecological risks in soils, and (3) to assess the health risk posed to children and adults from potentially hazardous elements (As, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, V, and Zn). The data analyzed belong to a report presented by Chile’s National Environmental Centre (CENMA). An evaluation was carried out through a multivariate statistical analysis to determine the type of origin and association of the trace elements, and spatial distribution maps were generated to establish the behavior of the contents of heavy metals present in the sites studied. The background values for sites S1, S2, and S3 were obtained by the median + 2MADdian absolute deviation) method. These values varied in the range of 14,702–41,785 mg kg−1 for Al, 0.83–8.9 mg kg−1 for As, 29.2–77.2 mg kg−1 for B, 59.2–143 mg kg−1 for Ba, 10.1–22.8 mg kg−1 for Cd, 18.4–51.2 mg kg−1 for Co, 12.3–38.0 mg kg−1 for Cr, 47.8–76.6 mg kg−1 for Cu, 36,230–64,274 mg kg−1 for Fe, 0.02–0.05 mg kg−1 for Hg, 482–4396 mg kg−1 for Mn, 16.7–19.3 mg kg−1 for Ni, 1.0–17.6 mg kg−1 for Pb, 1.4–28.2 mg kg−1 for Se, 108–258 mg kg−1 for V, and 68.1–145 mg kg−1 for Zn. In terms of ecological risk, the geoaccumulation index (Igeo), enrichment factor (EF), and contamination factor (Cf) values for As and Se at site S1, As at S2, and Pb with As at S3 were the main elements indicating the highest contamination levels, as well as a higher number of samples with contaminated content. The Potential Ecological Risk Index (PERI) revealed that on average, there was a moderate ecological risk for S1 and S2 and a considerable ecological risk for S3; the main contributions were generated by As and Hg in S1 and S2, while, in S3, they were produced by Pb and As. In terms of the risk to human health, the risk was higher in children than in adults, with the ingestion route as the main source of risk. For adults, it was found that there was no likelihood that they would develop any adverse non-carcinogenic or carcinogenic health effects. In contrast, children were found to be more likely to sustain adverse health effects. Regarding the non-carcinogenic risk to children, the Co and As samples at S1, S2, and S3, and the Pb at site S3 showed values exceeding the non-carcinogenic-risk limit. Regarding the carcinogenic risk, all three sites studied had Cd samples that indicated a likelihood of children developing cancer from this heavy metal. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Concentration and Distribution of Heavy Metals in Soils, Volume II)
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18 pages, 2397 KiB  
Article
Characteristics, Chemical Speciation and Health Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals in Paddy Soil and Rice around an Abandoned High-Arsenic Coal Mine Area, Southwest China
by Huijuan Liu, Jiao Xie, Zhifei Cheng and Xianliang Wu
Minerals 2023, 13(5), 629; https://doi.org/10.3390/min13050629 - 29 Apr 2023
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1587
Abstract
The concentrations of the heavy metals Pb, Cd, Cr, Hg, As, Cu and Zn in soil and locally produced grain (rice) were determined in paddy soil and rice around an abandoned high-arsenic coal mine area of Xingren county, southwest China. The health risk [...] Read more.
The concentrations of the heavy metals Pb, Cd, Cr, Hg, As, Cu and Zn in soil and locally produced grain (rice) were determined in paddy soil and rice around an abandoned high-arsenic coal mine area of Xingren county, southwest China. The health risk assessment was used to assess the multimedia and multipathway health risks of HM exposure in the study area. The results showed that the concentrations of As, Pb and Cd in soil were all higher than the corresponding limits for HMs in China. In terms of the accumulation and transfer capacity, Cd was more likely to transfer from the roots to rice, and its strong mobility may pose potential risks to local residents. The non-carcinogenic risks and carcinogenic risks of HM exposure in different media and exposure pathways were higher in children than adults. The total non-carcinogenic risks and carcinogenic risks in adults and children were higher than the standard limit values because of the HM exposure through ingesting rice husk. Among the exposure pathways evaluated, the contribution of diet was the largest, and As was the most important heavy metal in terms of the non-carcinogenic risk and carcinogenic risk factors. The total non-carcinogenic risks and carcinogenic risks caused by As in dietary crop (rice) accounted for 52% of the total in both adults and children. In order to maintain the health of residents in the study area, it is necessary to strictly strengthen the monitoring of heavy metal pollution in the study area and find effective soil improvement methods to reduce the health risks caused by heavy metal exposure. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Concentration and Distribution of Heavy Metals in Soils, Volume II)
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29 pages, 8491 KiB  
Article
Source Apportionment of Chemical Elements and Their Geochemical Baseline Values in Surface Water of the Parauapebas River Basin, Southeast Amazon, Brazil
by Leandro Silva Quaresma, Gessica da Silva e Silva, Prafulla Kumar Sahoo, Gabriel Negreiros Salomão and Roberto Dall’Agnol
Minerals 2022, 12(12), 1579; https://doi.org/10.3390/min12121579 - 9 Dec 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2207
Abstract
The present work aims to evaluate the chemical quality and establish the geochemical baseline values of elements in the surface waters of the Parauapebas River basin (PRB), which is one of the major subbasins in the Itacaiúnas River watershed (IRW) located in the [...] Read more.
The present work aims to evaluate the chemical quality and establish the geochemical baseline values of elements in the surface waters of the Parauapebas River basin (PRB), which is one of the major subbasins in the Itacaiúnas River watershed (IRW) located in the Brazilian Amazon. A total of 327 surface water samples were collected during the rainy and dry seasons in 2017. Results indicate that waters are slightly acidic to alkaline (pH 6 to 8), and there was a strong influence of the seasonal variation on water quality, with higher values of turbidity, Fe, Al, Mn, TDS, etc. in the rainy season. Two geochemical baseline types for the PRB were defined, i.e., ‘conservative baseline’ (CB), represented by the cumulative frequency curve, and the ‘environmental baseline’ (EB), comprising the sum of natural and diffuse anthropogenic contributions, represented by the 98th percentile. Except Fe, Mn and Al, the CB and EB values of various trace elements (Ba, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Rb, Sn, Sr, Ti, V and Zn) were lower than the recommended limits of CONAMA 357/05—class 2. The principal component analysis (PCA) identified the major geochemical association (Al-Ti-Cu-Cr-Ni-V), which is an imprint of the local geological setting. Ni and Cr showed enrichment at sites where mafic and ultramafic rocks are concentrated, while Cu concentration is mainly associated with the north and south mineralization belts. High concentrations of Fe and Mn are characteristic of the waters of this region and this is mostly influenced by specific land use activities and intense weathering/erosion of catchment materials. At the upper Parauapebas, anthropogenic contributions associated with soil use and occupation were also important along with the geogenic effects. The obtained results regarding sources of contaminants in some microbasins can be taken as a starting point for future studies on the environmental quality of the region’s water resources. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Concentration and Distribution of Heavy Metals in Soils, Volume II)
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