Health Risk Assessment in Calcareous Agricultural Soils Contaminated by Metallic Mining Activity Under Mediterranean Climate

Abstract

The agricultural lands surrounding the ancient mine site of Jebel Ressas (Tunisia) have been contaminated mainly due to the mining waste dumps left without environment protection measures. The metal contamination of agricultural soils and crops was studied to evaluate the local population health risk. The results show the soil Cd and Pb contamination over an area of 180 ha and up to 5 km distance from the dumps. The toxic metals contents in soil exceeded the maximum allowable Canadian limits for agricultural soils, reaching 231 and 20 100 mg kg−1 for cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb), respectively, but decreasing with the distance from the dumps. Although a low solubility and availability of metals could be expected within the calcareous soils of this area, metals appeared to be absorbed by edible plants (fruits and vegetables). High contents in parsley and mallow were recorded, reaching up to four times the allowable limits (EC 1881/2006) for Cd, and 26 times for Pb. Local population exposure to metals by both soil ingestion and consumption of contaminated plants has been estimated and the health risk has been confirmed for farmlands inhabitants, especially for children. The major source of risk for the local population is dietary. Soil dust contribution to health risk is at the most 3.4% for adults and at the most 13.1% for children.

Industrial deinking paper sludge waste: toxicity risk and health effects assessment of heavy metals by USEtox model

“…The disposal site is situated outside of the city limits but near to an olive field. As a result, even if calcareous soil contributes to reducing the solubility and availability of some of the majority of metals, it is required to analyze the danger of contamination of food plants by various heavy metals [31]. Indeed, the daily food consumption (kg person.…”

“…day-1 ) of a Tunisian citizen for olive trees is 0.1 and 0.07 for adults and children, respectively. The risk of ingestion must be taken into account, especially for Cd and Pb [31]. The amount of metals absorbed by a human body (copper, zinc, lead, nickel and chromium) has a direct influence on its health.…”

“…However, according to Marouani et al [33], the addition of DPS waste as an amendment, even at high doses (60t.ha -1 ), did not result in a significant increase in soil MTE levels compared to the control, but improved some physical, biological, and chemical properties of the soil, resulting in better soil and environmental conservation. Adding to these results, beyond soil ingestion, the surrounding community may be exposed to health concerns from soil dust in their daily activities near the landfill [31].…”

Towards Sustainable Mining: Exploiting Raw Materials from Extractive Waste Facilities

“…Effluents and dust emitted from controlled or uncontrolled tailings and waste-rock management facilities, potentially toxic in varying degrees to humans, animals, and plants [18,19]. The effluents can be acidic or alkaline and may contain dissolved metals and/or soluble and insoluble complex organic constituents from mineral processing, as well as natural occurring organic substances such as humic and long-chain carboxylic acids from mining operations.…”

Extractive waste management: A risk analysis approach

“…Climate conditions, topography, hydrology, soil and EW textures, vegetation and site management influence the dispersion of contaminants towards adjacent ecosystems. Due to this dispersion and erosion, high contents of heavy metals have often been reported in ecosystem compartments near metal extraction sites (Béjaoui et al, 2016, Balint et al, 2014, Balint et al, 2015. These heavy metals tend to persist in the environment due to their nondegradable characteristics (Yuan et al, 2004).…”