The Difficult Assessment of Heavy Metal Contamination of Soils and Plants in Elbe River Floodplains

Abstract

The investigations on total sums of heavy metals indicated that topsoils in the floodplains in the German part of the river Elbe are in part markedly enriched. The contamination exceeds the action values of the Federal Soil Protection and Contaminated Site Ordinance. Looking on known concentrations of heavy metals in the pasture vegetation, however, threshold values for fodder are not exceeded in most cases. As livestock takes up a part of contaminants by inhalation and ingestion of soil particles and as the contamination in the vegetation is variable in space and time, the actual risk of heavy metal transfer in the food chain has needs to be studied. Die schwierige Bewertung der Schwermetallbelastung von Böden und Pflanzen in den ElbauenDie Schwermetallbelastung der aktuell überfluteten Auenböden entlang der Elbe ist teilweise derartig hoch, dass Maßnahmenwerte für die Grünlandnutzung der Bundes-Bodenschutzverordnung überschritten werden. Andererseits liegen die Metallgehalte in der Vegetation meistens unterhalb der Grenzwerte der Futtermittelverordnung. Dabei wird aber nicht berücksichtigt, dass Weidevieh einen erheblichen Belastungsanteil durch Inhalation und Ingestion aufnimmt. Daher kann das Risiko des Schwermetalltransfers in die Nahrungskette nicht abschließend beurteilt werden und bedarf näherer Untersuchung.

Release of Ni and Zn from Contaminated Floodplain Soils Under Saturated Flow Conditions

“…The contents found in our study accord with results of previous studies on metal contamination of floodplain soils of the Elbe river (e.g. Krüger and Gröngröft 2003;Devai et al 2005;Overesch et al 2007). However, total contents as presented in Table 1 do not give information on the actual and possibly hazardous metal release into the soil solution under field conditions.…”

Dissolved Inorganic Contaminants in a Floodplain Soil: Comparison of In Situ Soil Solutions and Laboratory Methods

“…Elevated total contents of As, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn were detected (Table 1). These contents coincide with those of inorganic contaminants in floodplain soils of the Elbe River as reported by, for instance, Krüger and Gröngröft (2003), Devai et al (2005), Overesch et al (2007), Rinklebe et al (2007), and Rennert and Rinklebe (2009). Here, the total contents exceed the German precautionary values for silty and loamy soils: Cd (1 mg kg −1 ), Cr (60 mg kg −1 ), Cu (40 mg kg −1 ), Ni (50 mg kg −1 ), Pb (70 mg kg −1 ), and Zn (150 mg kg −1 ).…”

“…Furthermore, periodical floods result in the deposition of sediments and contingently in concomitant inputs of dissolved and particulate contaminants. For instance, inorganic contaminants have been accumulated for centuries in floodplain soils along the Elbe River (Germany) (Krüger and Gröngröft 2003;Overesch et al 2007;Rinklebe et al 2007). Metallic contaminants in the river water originate from different sources in the catchment area, such as industry, mining, agriculture, or natural weathering (Kowalik et al 2003;Förstner et al 2004).…”

Flood Induced Heavy Metal and Arsenic Contamination of Elbe River Floodplain Soils

“…This contamination exceeds the limits, specified in the Federal Soil Protection and Contaminated Site Ordinance [12]. Recently published data by Krüger and Gröngröft [13] on HM concentrations in Elbe floodplain soils highlighted the wide range of soil contamination along the entire German Elbe. But regarding the fact that the sampling took place over the past two decades and the morphological exposure and flooding frequency of individual positions are unknown the data neither allow the direct comparison between different regions nor the interpretation of the local variation in time.…”