Heavy metal concentration in soil in the tailing dam vicinity of an old gold mine in Johannesburg, South Africa

2016 ◽  
Vol 96 (3) ◽  
pp. 299-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.Y. Olobatoke ◽  
M. Mathuthu

Soil contamination with heavy metals is a serious concern to food production and human health. The present study was conducted to evaluate the impact of tailings from an old mining site on heavy metal contamination of soil. Using a GPS to map out different sites around the tailing dam, soil samples were taken from under grassland at the different sites, at depths of 15 cm and 1 m, using a shovel and handheld auger. The samples were prepared, acid digested, and analyzed for a multi-element suite by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry. Results showed heavy metal concentration in the order of Cr > Zn > As > Mn > Cu > Pb > Ni > Sr > Hg. Most of the soil samples contained high concentration of As (13.46–234.6 mg kg−1). Soil concentrations of As, Hg, Cr, and Mn also decreased with distance from the dump material. Single contamination index of each pollutant, calculated according to the South African Soil Quality Standards revealed very high and medium pollution grades for As (index = 7.39) and Cr (index = 2.16), respectively. Arsenic is a metal associated with gold ore and soil pollution by such metals can make it infertile and unsuitable for plants.

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abraham Addo-Bediako ◽  
Sophy Nukeri ◽  
Millicent Kekana

AbstractThe impact of anthropogenic activities such as mining, agriculture and urbanization is causing heavy metal contamination in many freshwater ecosystems. The concentrations of eight elements (As, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn) in the Spekboom River, South Africa, were studied using enrichment factor (EF) and geo-accumulation index (Igeo) to assess the extent of pollution in the river. Sediment samples were collected and analyzed using sequential inductively coupled plasma—optical emission spectrometry. The results showed deterioration of the sediment quality with high concentration of Cr and Ni at all the sites, this is a reflection of contamination from the various anthropogenic activities in the area. The current levels of Cr and Ni could be detrimental to the river and may pose a serious threat to the aquatic organisms and humans, as the sediment could act as a secondary source of metal pollution in the water. It is therefore recommended that urgent action should be taken to control effluents from anthropogenic activities to the river in order to prevent further pollution.


Author(s):  
Audronė Mikalajunė ◽  
Lina Jakučionytė

Vehicles release large amounts of heavy metals to the environment. There have been done a lot of investigations analysing the distribution of heavy metals in soils near intensive regional roads. However, there is lack of investigations into the impact of small-intensity gravel roads on roadside soil contamination with heavy metals. The object of this investigation is four gravel roads of local significance connecting small villages. The intensity of these roads is very low. The gravel roads are chosen according to application of dust-minimizing materials, for example, CaCl2 and oil emulsion. According to our results, none of the soil samples had an excess of heavy metal concentration limit. Besides, heavy metal concentrations were decreasing with a distance from the road increasing. We can make an assumption that road dust-minimizing materials do not have a significant impact on heavy metal distribution in roadside soils. The major factors of heavy metal pollution distribution in roadside soils are traffic intensity, roadside trenches, and topographic conditions. Santrauka Eksploatuojant autotransportą, į aplinką patenka daug sunkiųjų metalų. Atlikta nemažai tyrimų sunkiųjų metalų paplitimuidirvožemyje šalia intensyvių magistralinių kelių nustatyti, tačiau mažo intensyvumo keliai šiuo požiūriu tiriami mažai.Tirti pasirinkta 4 žvyrkeliai – vietinės reikšmvs keliai, jungiantys nedideles gyvenvietes. Eismo intensyvumas šiuose keliuose mažas. Žvyrkeliai pasirinkti pagal taikomas priemones dulkėtumui mažinti, t. y. du nagrinvjami žvyrkeliai apdorotiCaCl2, kiti du – naftos emulsija. Nė viename mėginyje sunkiųjų metalų koncentracijos neviršijo DLK, o tolstant nuo važiuojamosios kelio dalies sunkiųjų metalų koncentracijos buvo mažesnės. Galima daryti prielaidą, kad kelio apdorojimo medžiagos dulkėtumui mažinti žymios įtakos sunkiųjų metalų pasiskirstymui pakelių dirvožemyje nedaro, lemia transporto srauto intensyvumas, kelio grioviai pakelėse bei reljefo sąlygos. Резюме При эксплуатации автомобилей в окружающую среду попадает много тяжелых металлов. Проведено немалоисследований, посвященных анализу распространения тяжелых металлов в почве обочин интенсивно эксплуатируемых магистральных дорог, однако исследований, касающихся аналогичных проблем дорог малой интенсивности, в настоящее время имеется немного. В настоящей работе в качестве объекта исследований выбраны четыредороги местного значения с гравийным покрытием, соединяющие небольшие поселения. Интенсивность дорог небольшая. Гравийные дороги выбраны с учетом их обработки для уменьшения пыльности – две дороги обработаны с применением CaCl2, а две другие – с применением нефтяной эмульсии. Ни в одной пробе не былозафиксировано концентраций тяжелых металлов, превышающих допустимые нормами. С удалением от проезжей части концентрации тяжелых металлов уменьшались. На основании исследований можно сделать вывод о том,что материалы, применявшиеся для уменьшения пыльности дорог, большого влияния на распространениетяжелых металлов в почве обочин дорог не оказывают. На распространение тяжелых металлов в почве обочин оказывает влияние интенсивность транспортного потока, кюветы на обочинах и условия рельефа.


Author(s):  
Dr. Salem M. ELNakeib ◽  
Dr. Fathi K. Elyaagubi ◽  
Dr. Mohamed A. Alrabib ◽  
Eng. Afaf Abouzed ◽  
Eng. Hanan Saleh Wanis

Soil samples were collected from and around Almarqub cement factory, AL-Khums city, Libya. These samples were collected from four different sites M1 (inside the factory), M2 (150 m from the factory), M3 (350 m from the factory) and M4 (60 km away from the factory as the control samples. The study was conducted to determine the heavy metal concentration in the soil. Organic matter, pH and water content value were determined according to the method described by Chaturvedi and Sankar (2006). Metals were determined by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. The results obtained for the examined physiochemical properties of soil in the area studied prove that cement dust from the Almarqub cement factory has had a significant impact on the soil. The affected soil properties are pH and total calcium content. These properties were found to be higher than those in similar soils from the same area unpolluted. The increase of soil pH in the same area may be a result of precipitation of cement dust over the years. Metal uptake from cement to soil and plants. Metals determined in contamination soil indicated high concentrations in M1 inside cement factory compared to soil samples as control. Results of the analysis have shown that there are signs of slight impact of soil properties arising from the cement dust on the soils, especially at location inside the factory. Recommendations were offered to monitor the dust falling on the soils through trapping and utilizing the dust emissions of cement.


Baltica ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-62
Author(s):  
Alexander Krek ◽  
Aleksandr Danchenkov ◽  
Marina Ulyanova ◽  
Darya Ryabchuk

The scope of the study was to assess the impact of potential sources of Cu, Zn, Co, Ni, and Cr on bottom sediments of the Russian sector of the south-eastern Baltic Sea. A total of 68 samples were taken and analyzed for grain-size (laser diffraction and sieve method) and heavy metal concentration (atomic absorption spectroscopy method). To avoid the influence of the sorption capacity of the fine-grained sediments to accumulate the pollutants, the normalization of the heavy metal concentration to Fe was applied. The environmental indices (contamination factor and modified degree of contamination) were calculated. The research has shown the contribution of oil platform, pipelines, ports and wastewater treatment facilities on the geochemical composition of bottom sediments. The authors have identified the level of heavy metals contamination of the middle parts of the Curonian and Vistula spits as a result of alongshore transport of pollutants.


Author(s):  
Nachana’a Timothy

Heavy metal concentration in roadside soil and plants are increasingly becoming of health concern. This work determined the concentration of selected heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Zn, Cr, Fe, Mg, Mn, Co, Ni and Cu) in roadside soils and plants samples from selected sites (Plaifu, Shiwa, Fadama-rake and Damdrai) along major road in Hong. Soil samples were taken 10 m, 20 m and 30 m away from the edge of the road at the  depth of 0-10 cm, 10-20 cm and 20-30 cm. Plant samples were randomly collected within the vicinity where the soil samples were taken and were analysed using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. The result revealed the trend in soil heavy metal concentration was Fe > Mn > Mg > Pb > Zn > Ni > Co > Cu > Cr > Cd and for plant the trend was Fe > Mn > Mg > Zn > Pb > Ni > Cu > Cd > Co > Cr. The concentrations decreased with increasing distance away from the edge of the road as well as with depth at which the soil sample were taken. The transfer factor showed that the concentration of Zn, Mn, Cu and Mg were greater than 1, which shows that plant were enriched by Zn, Mn, Cu and Mg from the soil. Mg and Cd equal to 1 at Plaifu and Damdrai. Most of the values of TF at the study area super pass 0.5, which implies that generally, the ability of bioaccumulation of these heavy metals in examined plants were relatively high.


2020 ◽  
Vol 163 ◽  
pp. 06009
Author(s):  
Evgeniy Malygin ◽  
Mikhail Lychagin

This study proposes an approach for simulation of heavy metal concentration in river waters using machine learning techniques. A regression model was built and it captured the relationship between the concentration of heavy metal and metalloids (HMM) and several characteristics of studied catchment. Machine learning techniques allowed to simulate the annual concentration variability of HMM. This approach allows exploring the impact of different factors on studied processes.


Author(s):  
Mebom Princess Chibuike ◽  
N. David Ogbonna ◽  
Williams Janet Olufunmilayo

Wetland soils constitute vast, under-exploited and sometimes undiscovered ecologies in many countries of the World, including Nigeria. A total of 54 wetland soil samples including surface and subsurface soil at depths of 0-15 cm and 15-30 cm were collected using a sterile hand auger for a period of three months between August and October and subjected to standard and analytical microbiological procedures. The wetland soil samples were further subjected to atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) to check for presence and concentration of heavy metals. Results obtained showed that apart from heterotrophic bacterial and fungal counts, hydrocarbon utilizing bacteria (HUB) counts were higher in the surface soil ranging from 12.06±3.43bX107 cfu/g at Iwofe to 6.19±2.67aX107 cfu/g at Chokocho while subsurface soil had HUB ranging from 8.91±6.67aX103 cfu/g at Eagle Island to 4.93±3.95aX103cfu/g at Chokocho. Heavy metals such as Fe, Pb, Cd and Ni were recorded in concentrations above FEPA permissible limit in the surface and subsurface soil across the three wetlands. The heavy metal concentration in each wetland however, decreased with an increase in soil depth. According to literatures, elevated levels of heavy metals in soils decrease microbial population, diversity and activities. However, the microbial population in this study increased with increasing heavy metal concentration which indicates that the microbes can tolerate or utilize heavy metals in their systems; as such can be used for bioremediation of heavy metal polluted soils. 


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 110-115
Author(s):  
Galina Yurievna Samoilenko ◽  
Evgeniy Aleksandrovich Bondarevich ◽  
Natalia Nikolaevna Kotsyurzhinskaya ◽  
Igor Anatolyevich Boriskin

The paper presents data on the content of gross and mobile forms of zinc, cadmium, lead and copper in the soils of Chita and its surroundings. The paper contains a comparative analysis of the accumulation (Kn) and movement (KP) coefficients of these microelements in organs ( Potentilla tanacetifolia Willd. ex Schlecht.), relative to their gross content and mobile forms in soils. The authors have revealed that soil samples of the studied sites contain unequal gross amount of heavy metals. In some points (6 and 3) the content of cadmium and zinc exceeded the Mac, that is why such soils have been attributed to heavily polluted. The index of biological activity on mobile forms of heavy metals in all sites significantly exceeded the same index on gross forms. It was found that Potentilla tanacetifolia are accumulators of heavy metal ions. Aboveground bodies accumulate and absorb cadmium and copper especially intensively, thus the content of mobile forms of these metals in the soil is insignificant. Excessive adsorption of trace elements in the phytomass of plants can be connected with surface contamination. According to the content of zinc and lead, the accumulation values in the organs of P. tanacetifolia were characterized by small coefficient values, against the background of their high concentration in the soil.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyesu Kim ◽  
Jaehyung Yu ◽  
Jieun Kim ◽  
Sangmo Koh ◽  
Bumhan Lee

<p><span><span> Heavy metal contamination in soils of mining area accompanies contaminations in drainage and vegetation. The traditional soil survey methods for heavy metal contamination requires significant investment of time, labor, and money although the methods can drive accurate assessment. Moreover, the point-based survey is problematic to understand spatial distribution with limited sample numbers. Remote sensing approaches may provide alternative solutions to understand spatial distribution of contamination with minimal investment of time and labor. It is very critical to understand spectral signals associated with heavy metal concentration to apply the phenomenon to remote sensing approaches. This study investigated spectral signals associated with heavy metal concentration in mine soils based on chemical analysis, mineral composition analysis, and spectral analysis. The study site is a Pb-Zn skarn ore deposit located in Gangwon province, South Korea, where the ore was formed by granite intrusion to slate and limestone. The chemical analysis revealed that the soils are contaminated with heavy metals. Mineral composition classified the soils into two time with silicate/clay mineral group and silicate/carbonate/clay mineral groups. Spectral analysis showed that sensitive spectral bands to heavy metal concentration is located in SWIR region for silicate/clay mineral group and VNIR region for silicate/carbonate/clay mineral group. It reveals that mineral composition and geochemical reaction play an important role in spectral signals manifested by heavy metal concentration. </span></span></p><p> </p>


2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 19-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruhana Hassan ◽  
Devagi Kanakaraju

Razor Clam (Bivalvia) could be easily identified as having two long, narrow shell valves connected by hinges, two siphons and one strong foot. It plays important role in ecological services besides providing food and extra income for the coastal communities. As filter feeder, razor clam is a good indicator for heavy metal contamination in aquatic environments. In Selangor, razor clam is locally known as ‘siput buluh’, yet, there is no proper scientific documentation on this species. This short study was carried out to assess the morphology of razor clams in Selangor for species identification and to sequence the Cytochrome Oxidase I (COI) gene for determination of its genetic diversity. Heavy sea traffics occurred in the sea near to the mudflat where razor clams were abundantly found has raised question whether razor clams were safe to be consumed. Therefore, this study is also designed to determine the level of selected heavy metals concentration in different body parts of razor clams. Based on selected morphometric and meristic data, razor clams of Kuala Selangor obtained during this study were Solen sarawakensis although many individuals displayed darker outer shell colouration and slightly thicker, longer and heavier shells. Based on analyses of putative COI gene sequences of approximately 677bp, there was a strong genetic divergence (11.7%) between S. sarawakensis inhabiting Kuala Selangor and Kuching Bay, Sarawak suggesting that although both razor clams were very similar morphologically, they could actually be two different species. Tissues of razor clams sampled from mudflat area in Kuala Selangor showed high concentration of Fe (146.50 mg/kg) and Mn (94.00 mg/kg). Other heavy metal elements namely Cr (42.50 mg/kg) and Cd (33.00 mg/kg) were also recorded during this study, occurring mainly in the shells. Traces of Hg were also detected, and its concentration did not differ much among the different parts analyzed.


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