The Effect of Natural Substance HUMAC Enviro on Reducing the Concentration of Copper and Mercury in Contaminated Soils

Abstract

The concentration of copper and mercury in soils that are found at immission field of mining dumps, heaps and ponds, as the remains of mining-industry activity in Central Spiš region (Slovakia), were investigated. The concentration of copper and mercury in the soils were in the range of 35-1271 and 0.4-32.7 mg kg -1 , which exceeded the upper limits of potentially toxic elements concentration for agricultural soils of Slovakia (Act No. 220/2004 Coll.). The result from this study demonstrated that the soils in the region of Central Spiš had endured severe copper and mercury pollution. Subsequently, the laboratory tested the effect of a natural substance HUMAC Enviro on the reduction of copper and mercury in contaminated soils. The statistical analysis methods used in this study, namely Wilcoxon Matched Pairs Test, proved a statistically significant influence of the natural substance HUMAC Enviro on the reduction of copper content in an aqueous solution, in the case of mercury, the statistical significance was not proved. The application of natural substance HUMAC Enviro based on humic acids seems to be important in addressing current environmental problems related to environmental contamination