scholarly journals Comparative assessment of heavy metal content in soils of different urban agglomerations: methodological approaches to environmental monitoring

2020 ◽  
pp. 71-79
Author(s):  
I.M. Andrusyshyna ◽  
◽  
I.O. Holub ◽  
V.F., Demchenko ◽  
O.G. Lampeka ◽  
...  

Objective: We studied the regional characteristics of soil pollution with heavy metals and other chemical elements, presented their comparative ecological and hygienic assessment. Materials and methods: We detected the content of 12 elements in the soils of urban agglomerations of the city of Kyiv (park, residential and transport zones), Donetsk oblast (Mariupol, Pisky etc.) and in the vicinity of the city of Halych (Ivano-Frankivsk oblast) with the help of the method of optical emission spectrometry. We studied the gross content of heavy metals in soils, determined their mobile forms, calculated the concentration coefficients and the indicator of the total soil cover pollution of urban agglomerations, established characteristic relationships between metals and their technogenic geochemical associations. Results and discussion: Among the analyzed chemical elements in soils of urban areas, the high content of Al, Mn and Crattracts a special attention. In the number of cases, it was higher than the MAC and the background level. The characteristic technogenic geochemical associations of heavy metals for studied territories were established: Cu > Cr > Pb > Zn > Ni > Mn. The mobility of heavy metals in technologically polluted soils increases in comparison with the background levels. Conclusion: A comparative assessment of soil pollution in the surveyed regions of Kyiv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Donetsk showed that they are under complex environmental pressure because of anthropogenic and technogenic environmental pollution with heavy metals.

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 580-590
Author(s):  
Anastasiia O. Splodytel

Results of the study about pollutants content in soils of urbanized landscapes are presented. Patterns of their migration and accumulation in main soil types of Brovary are grounded. Correlation relationships between the individual components of ecologicalgeochemical system of urbanized territory were analyzed. Dependences of landscape resistance to technogenic pollution on the level of conservation of natural geochemical parameters of soils, degree of their anthropogenic transformation and level of heavy metals were determined. According to geochemical criteria technogenic associations of heavy metalsin soils are determined, which are represented by the following elements: Cu>Pb>Zn>Co>Cr>V>Mo>Mn>Ni. Level of gross content of chemical elements compounds in soils of different zones of the city is heterogeneous. City zones with the highest polyelement contamination of soil have been identified. Maximum technogenic load is recorded in urban areas of transport infrastructure zone and zone of production and communal-warehouse facilities. Ecological and geochemical assessment on the total index of pollution by using methods of Y.E. Saeta, is shown. Value of this topsoil parameter in Brovary (0-10 cm) ranges from 30 to 106, the average is 65, which corresponds to hazardous level of soil pollution. According to the total indicator of technogenic pollution, Brovary belongs to cities with high pollution level. Soils in all parts of the city, except for residential areas, are classified as hazardous. Studied soils of the city are characterized by plumbum geochemical specialization. High levels of zinc, manganese, cobalt and chromium were also found (the maximal permissible concentrations in soil exceeds by 1.7-4.7 times). Especial attention is paid to the patterns, mechanisms of pollutants influence on the complex of soil properties and processes that determine the ecological condition of soils and their resistance to anthropogenic flows. Soil contamination by pollutants leads to changes in their physical and chemical properties (cation exchange capacity pH, organic matter content) which causes a low buffering capacity of soil cover of the city.


Author(s):  
Sayyed Mohammad Ali Noori ◽  
Mohammad Hashemi ◽  
Sajjad Ghasemi

Abstract: Saffron is one of the most expensive spices in the world, and its popularity as a tasty food additive is spreading rapidly through many cultures and cuisines. Minerals and heavy metals are minor components found in saffron, which play a key role in the identification of the geographical origin, quality control, and food traceability, while they also affect human health. The chemical elements in saffron are measured using various analytical methods, such as techniques based on spectrometry or spectroscopy, including atomic emission spectrometry, atomic absorption spectrometry, inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry, and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The present study aimed to review the published articles about heavy metals and minerals in saffron across the world. To date, 64 chemical elements have been found in different types of saffron, which could be divided into three groups of macro-elements, trace elements, and heavy metals (trace elements with a lower gravity/greater than five times that of water and other inorganic sources). Furthermore, the chemical elements in the saffron samples of different countries have a wide range of concentrations. These differences may be affected by geographical condition such as physicochemical properties of the soil, weather and other environmental conditions like saffron cultivation and its genotype.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (24) ◽  
pp. 191202
Author(s):  
Timothy Iyobosa Asowata ◽  
Akinade Shadrach Olatunji

Background. The enrichment of lead (Pb) in a rapidly expanding urban environment is largely caused by industrial and anthropogenic activities. However, very few studies have come from sub-Sahara Africa as a whole, in spite of the increased rate of population, industrialization and urbanization in this region. The city of Onitsha is the commercial heartland of southeast Nigeria. Objectives. To determine the concentration of Pb in soils and sediments in Onitsha and the surrounding area and to identify the possible sources of Pb content in the environmental media. Methods. One hundred and sixty-two (162) samples (120 top and subsoils, and 42 stream and side drain sediments) were collected from the city of Onitsha, Nigeria to determine Pb concentrations, identify the main sources of Pb in this region, and determine its fate in soil and sediments using Pb isotopes. Thirty (30) 15 g clay fractions of soil and sediment samples, and a sample each of galena (from the Lower Benue Trough), coal and soot from vehicle exhaust and battery cells were collected from the city and analyzed for lead isotopes (Pb204, Pb206, Pb207 and Pb208) using ultra-trace inductively coupled plasma emission spectrometry. Results. The distribution and concentration of Pb in the soil of Onitsha was observed to be influenced by land use patterns with very elevated concentrations of Pb observed for mechanic and metal workshop samples (1444.3, 1067.5, 1048.1, 1730.5 and 580.5 ppm); active waste dump samples (448.4 and 311.9 ppm); and farmland and garden samples (366.2 ppm). The concentration of Pb in the sediments also showed varying elevated concentrations across locations, ranging from 45.7–540.1 ppm. A comparison with the control samples revealed that the Pb concentrations measured in the environmental media were several folds higher than that of the control. The Pb isotope analysis indicated that most of the Pb in environmental media was anthropogenic in origin and had been predominantly contributed by unsustainable environmental practices such as indiscriminate waste dumps, hydrocarbonbased products emissions, by-products from mechanical workshops that have been haphazardly constructed in the city, and industrial plants located within urban areas. Conclusions. The relatively higher concentrations of Pb in soils and sediments were found to be influenced by land use, as also observed in the Pb isotope readings, which will, over time, adversely affect environmental media and biota. Competing Interests. The authors declare no competing financial interests.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (24) ◽  
pp. 13719
Author(s):  
Aso H. Saeed H. Salih ◽  
Abdullah A. Hama ◽  
Karzan A. M. Hawrami ◽  
Allah Ditta

Land snails are crucial consumers in the terrestrial environment and beneficial significant bioindicators to evaluate the chemical impact in the ecosystem, especially on urban lands. The present study aimed to investigate the concentration of heavy metals such as As, Cr, Ni, Pb, and Zn in urban soil and study whether Eobania vermiculata acts as a bioindicator for heavy metal contamination in an urban area. Thirty soil and snail samples in triplicate from each sampling site were taken from the urban areas of Suliamani. After a microwave-assisted digestion procedure, every sample was analyzed by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry. Results showed that the concentration of chromium (Cr) in each snail sample was significantly high. The maximum Cr concentration (15.87 mg kg−1) was recorded in the snail sample collected from Ali Kamal Park, which was adjacent to a very crowded traffic road. The As concentration in snail samples ranged from 0.08 to 1.004 mg kg−1, and it was below the permissible limits. However, the concentrations of heavy metals in urban soil locations were below their background measurements, except for nickel (Ni) which was above the permissible limits. The safest site in the study area was Chaviland 1, while the most contaminated site was the Ha-wary Shar Park. The snails bioaccumulated metals in their tissues in the following order, Cr > Zn > Ni, and this bioaccumulation occurred more on the main road locations, which represented potentially contaminated places due to anthropogenic activities. Moreover, there was no correlation among the heavy metals within the soil samples when compared to the similar metals in the snail samples, due to the low concentration of heavy metals in soil, excluding Ni, from where the snail samples were collected. Consequently, the land snail, E. vermiculata, is an appropriate sentinel organism for some metals, mainly for Cr, and the bioindicator monitoring with this snail should be extended to mixtures of heavy metals, since such relationships frequently occur in soil.


2021 ◽  
Vol 258 ◽  
pp. 08025
Author(s):  
Ekaterina Antonenko ◽  
Aleksandr Melnichuk ◽  
Valentina Popovich

The work is devoted to the environmental assessment of degree of soil pollution with heavy metals on land plots, located within the boundaries of roadside territories. The study area is characterized by uneven anthropogenic load on different sections of the road. The article examines the indicator of lands ecological state, taking into account heavy metals content, their toxicity, excess of background level. As a result of the research, it was revealed that the excess of the MPC was recorded for two elements of the 1st hazard class - lead and zinc. Thus, the 5-meter zone belongs to the category of very strong pollution (2 MPC for lead, 1 MPC for zinc, and the zone from 25 to 50 m is slightly contaminated). This algorithm can be used for an integral and ecological-economic assessment of soils of land plots, located within the boundaries of roadside territories.


Author(s):  

The paper presents the outcomes of the investigation of heavy metals and iron accumulation in the Kovrov (Vladimir Oblast) snow cover. On the basis of snowmelt waters’ analysis a calculation of the chemical elements input into snow cover over the winter period has been carried out.


Atmosphere ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 583 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dusan Jandacka ◽  
Daniela Durcanska

Urban air quality is continuing to deteriorate. If we want to do something about this problem, we need to know the cause of the pollution. The big problem, not only in Europe, is the high concentrations of particulate matter (PM) in the urban environment. The origin of these particles can be different, including combustion, transport, industry, natural resources, etc. Particulate matter includes a large amount of the finest PM fractions, which can remain in the air for a long time, easily enter respiratory tracks, and damage human health. Particulate matter is also produced by the abrasion of different parts of roads and vehicle fleets and from resuspension road dust, which concerns matter with larger aerodynamic diameters. For this reason, we carried out a series of measurements at various measuring stations in Žilina, Slovakia, during different measuring seasons. The main objective was to find out the diversity of particulate matter sources in Žilina. The search for the particulate matter origin was carried out by particulate matter measurements, determination of the particulate matter fraction concentrations (PM10, PM2.5, and PM1), an investigation on the effect of secondary factors on the particulate matter concentrations, chemical analyses, and multivariate statistical analyses. Varied behavior of the particulate matter with respect to the measurement station and the measurement season was found. Differences in the concentrations of investigated chemical elements contained in the PM were found. Significant changes in the concentrations of particulate matter are caused not only by primary sources (e.g., road traffic in the city of Žilina), but mainly by the negative events (combination of air pollution sources and meteorological conditions). Maximum concentrations of particulate matter PM10 were measured during the winter season at the measuring station on Komenského Street: PM10 126.2 µg/m3, PM2.5 97.7 µg/m3, and PM1 90.4 µg/m3 were obtained using the gravimetric method. The coarse fraction PM2.5-10 was mainly represented by the chemical elements Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Cr, Fe, and Ba, and the fine fraction PM2.5 was represented by the chemical elements K, S, Cd, Pb, Ni, and Zn. Road transport as a dominant source of PM10 was identified from all measurements in the city of Žilina by using the multivariate statistical methods of principal component analysis (PCA) and factor analysis (FA).


2014 ◽  
Vol 1051 ◽  
pp. 444-447
Author(s):  
A.A. Suprunova ◽  
L.T. Krupskaya ◽  
T.G. Borzenkova

The article presents the results of the research work on the peculiarities of recultivation of the ash dumps of power station No1 (PS1) in the city of Khabarovsk. The research showed that the climatic conditions of the region promote the dust dispersal of toxic agents from the surface of the ash dump. The pollution of the air basin here can be attributed to the extremely high level of pollution (EHP), the priority pollutant is the dust containing heightened concentrations of heavy metals (Pb, Mn, Cu, Cr, Co, Ni, Cd). As a result it leads to the deterioration of the population’s health, especially to the high level of respiratory organs diseases. The research of the sprouting of the herbaceous plants (mixture of timothy-grass, clover and mustard) on prepared model soils showed their healthy growth. The ash chemical composition was studied. It showed high concentration of toxic chemical elements (Hg, Be, Sr, Cd, V, Th, 40K, Cr, Mb, AS, Sb,Se, Te, Pb, Ni, Co). The migration intensity of heavy metals ions into the plants was analyzed. On the basis of the experimental research the optimum composition of the substrate was revealed and recommended for recultivating the ash dump of PS1, namely: soil+sand+ash. Climatic conditions of the Khabarovsk Krai do not permit to recommend the sand+ash substrate for recultivation because of strong winds.


2021 ◽  
Vol 82 (3) ◽  
pp. 115-120
Author(s):  
SINTSOV ALEXANDER V. ◽  
◽  
BARMIN ALEXANDER N. ◽  
ZIMOVETS PETR A. ◽  
VALOV MICHAIL V. ◽  
...  

Anthropogenic and technogenic processes in the urban environment significantly change the chemical composition of the soil cover. One of such processes influencing the state of the urban soil is the process of soil cover pollution with heavy metals. Heavy metals are biochemically active and highly toxic; they are found in various components of the natural environment, as well as in systems of anthropogenic and technogenic origin. They have the property of accumulation in the body of living beings and have a negative effect on their condition. This group of chemical elements includes lead, zinc, chromium, mercury, copper, iron and other metals. Exceeding the permissible concentration of heavy metals in the soil of an urbanized area and their toxic effects pose a significant danger to humans. Contamination of the soil cover of an urbanized area with heavy metals is associated with the impact of a large number of sources of anthropogenic and technogenic origin, namely, energy and industrial facilities, city infrastructure support systems, zones of construction activities and storage of materials or waste. One of the main highly toxic chemical pollutants of the soil cover of the urbanized territory belonging to the group of heavy metals is zinc «Zincum-Zn». The article describes the results of a 2020 study of the current zinc content in the soil cover of the city of Astrakhan. The relevance of the work lies in the geochemical analysis of the content of heavy metals in the soil of the city of Astrakhan. The aim of the work was to study the modern process of soil contamination of the city of Astrakhan with zinc. The work was based on the task of determining the degree of exceeding the hygienic standards of the maximum permissible concentration of zinc in soil samples. Methods of geographical and ecological research were used in the work, soil samples were collected, followed by determination of the concentration of a substance in each of the soil samples in a certified laboratory. In the course of the work, the indicators of exceeding the maximum permissible concentration of zinc in the soil of the city of Astrakhan were determined and the presumptive sources of pollution were identified.


2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Anna Świercz ◽  
Ewelina Zajęcka

AbstractPhysicochemical properties of soils have a significant impact on the growth and development of vegetation. In urban areas, because of increased human activity, changes occur in both grain-size composition as well as physical and chemical properties of soils. These soils are frequently saline and contaminated with heavy metals, which limit the development of vegetation and cause its necrosis. Elm is a commonly growing tree with low habitat requirements, whose population has been considerably reduced because of progressing Dutch elm disease. This study attempts to assess the relationship of dependency between physicochemical parameters of soils and health status of elms from the area of the City of Kielce. Two elms were selected for the study, that is, one alive tree being a natural monument and one necrotic tree. The soil analysis concerned physicochemical parameters such as size composition, reaction, salinity measured by means of proper electrolyte conductivity (PEC), acidity, organic carbon content, carbonates, nitrogen, and selected elements including heavy metals (Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd, Mn). The study indicates differentiation amongst the physicochemical parameters of the analysed soils. A characteristic feature of the soils being the habitat of the necrotic elm is that they have considerably higher salinity than those being the habitat of the alive elm. Increased levels of sodium and chlorides could negatively affect water transportation in vegetation what might have resulted, amongst others, in necrosis of the tree.


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