Arsenic, Cadmium and Thallium Content In Plants Growing In Close Proximity to a Zinc Works – Long-Term Observations

Abstract

The paper comprises an analysis of the As, Cd, and Tl content in two plant species (Agrostis capillaris and Betula pendula) commonly growing in the vicinity of the Miasteczko Śląskie Zinc Works, in the period of 1998-2018. In 2018, the As, Cd, and Tl content (in mg/kg) in the grasses was 1.10-1.68, 3.14-19.05, and 0.53-5.96, respectively, i.e. lower by 50-70%, compared to the year 1998. The As, Cd, and Tl content (in mg/kg) in birch leaves at the same time point was 0.74-1.54, 4.65-32.44, and 0.80-7.57, respectively, i.e. lower by 10-80%, compared to values found 20 years earlier. In all grass and birch leaf samples collected in 1998 and 2018, the content of the studied elements exceeded the so-called "natural levels". The 1998 content of As, Cd, and Tl in the plants was due to the settling of dust containing industrial pollutants and reached 77-96%. After 20 years, the contribution of this source of pollution was considerably lower, reaching 63-79%. The performed analyses demonstrated the following mean contents of the analyzed elements in dust: 243 mg As/kg, 1113 mg Cd/kg, and 44 mg Tl/kg, which confirms the hypothesis on the major role of dust in the current soil and plant pollution. In all the habitats analyzed, a significant decrease of the transfer factor (TF) was found for As and Cd in 2018, compared to 1998. For Tl, a different observation was made. In three out of four analyzed habitats, TF decreased over the two decades studied, whereas in the remaining habitat, TF was higher in 2018 than in 1998 both for the grasses and for the birch leaves. Over the past 20 years, the most polluted area changed as well, from the land located closest to the zinc works, in the direction aligned with the most common winds, to the areas subject to the most intense settling of pollutants carried by the wind from unsecured heaps and industrial waste storage areas.

Accumulation of Arsenic by Plants Growing in the Sites Strongly Contaminated by Historical Mining in the Sudetes Region of Poland

“…Total concentrations of As in the aboveground parts of plants were in a broad range 0.5-509 mg/kg, indicating that the plants growing in our study area can accumulate very high amounts of As in their shoots. The median value, determined for the whole set of results, was 8.9 mg/kg, which was comparable with As concentrations in plant shoots reported by various authors from contaminated environments [15,16,[67][68][69][70]. It should be stressed, however, that the majority of results, i.e.…”

Lead in Agricultural Soils and Cultivated Pastures Irrigated with River Water Contaminated by Mining Activity

“…The amount of lead absorbed by the plants irrigated with contaminated water was calculated using the bioconcentration factor (BCF) that several authors use. The relation is equal to BCF = Cplanta /Csuelo where Cplanta is equal to the concentration of the metal in the plant and Csuelo is the concentration of the metal in the soil where the plant grows [Castro et al 2018, Kicinska 2019]. The means of concentration of lead in the soil and pastures compared using the t test by means of the SPSS statistical package for data processing.…”

Physical and chemical characteristics of slag produced during Pb refining and the environmental risk associated with the storage of slag

“…Using environmental guidelines (Minister of Environment 2014 ) and based on studies related to the presence of PTEs (Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb, Zn) in the soil and plant environment published to date (Gbor et al 2000 ; Yildrim and Prezzi 2011 ; Kicińska 2019b ), the bound forms (geochemical fractions) of the above-mentioned elements were studied using four-step sequential BCR extraction (Fig. 7 ).…”