Partitioning of Zn, Pb and Cd in river sediments from a lead and zinc mining area using the BCR three-step sequential extraction procedure

Abstract

The extent of pollution was investigated in sediments collected along the course of the river Meza and its tributaries in the lead and zinc mining area of the Mezica valley (Slovenia). In order to evaluate the heavy metal burden, total concentrations of Zn, Pb and Cd were determined and the partitioning of these metals between the easily and sparingly soluble sediment fractions was performed by the use of the slightly modified BCR sequential extraction procedure. The quality of analytical data was checked with Certified Reference Material CRM 601. Good agreement between the determined and certified or indicative metal concentrations was obtained. In order to estimate the natural and anthropogenic inputs of Zn, Pb and Cd in the sediments, normalisation to Al was applied. The results of the partitioning study indicate that Zn prevails in the most sparingly soluble fraction and is distributed between organic matter and sulfides, while a smaller proportion is found in the easily soluble fraction. Pb is distributed mainly between organic matter and sulfides, whereas Cd is predominantly associated with the most sparingly soluble fraction. Data from the normalisation procedure indicate that the anthropogenic inputs of Zn, Pb and Cd correlate with the very high total metal concentrations determined in sediments. The highest total Zn, Pb and Cd concentrations (16.3. 9.3 and 0.13 g kg(-1), respectively) were found in the sediment of the Helena rivulet, arising from former mining activities. In spite of the relatively low easily soluble metal fractions in the sediment, the concentrations of metals in these fractions are high, owing to the extremely high total metal concentrations. These data indicate severe pollution of the terrestrial and aquatic environment.

Cu, Pb and Zn Fractionation in a Savannah Type Grassland Soil

“…The observed higher attachment of Cu and Zn to the RES phase is consistent with observations of Li et al (2001). The highest affinity of Zn towards RES phase was also reported by Svete et al (2001) in a study on the chemical partitioning of Zn from a mine area.…”

Rare Earth Elements and Geochemical Partitioning of Zn and Pb in Sediments of an Urban River

“…2 and 3). This phenomenon for Pb was similar to another result (Svete et al, 2001), where authors reported that oxidisable fraction is a significant scavenger of Pb. Lead emissions are mainly from traffic and residential heating (Al-Masri et al, 2006) and around 66% of Pb being found to be associated with organic materials and this is due to incomplete burning of vehicles fuel (AlMasri et al, 2006) and a similar trend has also been observed in Nomi River sediment.…”

Chemometrics in the assessment of the sustainable development rule implementation

“…The most mobile forms of heavy metals occur in fractions I and II, that is in the exchangeable fraction and the fraction that binds with carbonates. Some authors have investigated the metal content within these fractions providing an opportunity to determine the level of mobility in bottom sediments [42,43]. These investigations provide information with respect to environmental risk.…”