Lead, Zinc, Arsenic and Copper Pollution in the

0 downloads 0 Views 444KB Size Report
Centro de Física Atómica, Universidade de Lisboa,. Av. Prof. Gama Pinto, 2, .... tions (
Water Air Soil Pollut DOI 10.1007/s11270-011-0753-5

Lead, Zinc, Arsenic and Copper Pollution in the Alluvial Plain of a Mining Wadi: The Beal Case (Cartagena–La Union Mining District, SE Spain) Oscar Gonzalez-Fernandez & Ignacio Queralt & Maria Luisa Carvalho & Gregorio Garcia

Received: 30 July 2010 / Accepted: 14 January 2011 # Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011

Abstract The distribution and mobility of heavy metals in the non-saturated zone of the alluvial plain of a wadi in the Cartagena–La Union mining district was investigated. The elemental chemistry of soils, indepth sediments and different plant species (namely Hirsfeldia incana, Ditrichia viscosa and Piptatherum miliaceum) was carried out by using X-ray fluorescence and X-ray diffraction techniques. Potential mobility of metals was assessed by using lixiviation test runs (DIN 38414-S4). Concentrations detected in soils and sediments were higher than the acceptable limits reported in official regulations. Regarding metals mobility, values obtained for Pb, Zn and As exceed the limits established by European Union for

O. Gonzalez-Fernandez (*) : I. Queralt Laboratory of X-Ray Analytical Applications, Institute of Earth Sciences “Jaume Almera”, CSIC, Solé Sabarís s/n, 08028 Barcelona, Spain e-mail: [email protected] M. L. Carvalho Centro de Física Atómica, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Prof. Gama Pinto, 2, 1649-003 Lisbon, Portugal G. Garcia Área Edafología y Química Agrícola, Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología Agraria, Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, Paseo Alfonso XIII 48, 30203 Cartagena, Spain

DIN 38414-S4 leachates. Whilst the obtained leaching percentages for Pb, Cu and As were not especially high (