Mercury in river sediments, floodplains and plants growing thereon in drainage area of Idrija Mine, Slovenia

• Autorzy: Gosar M
• Języki publikacji: EN

Abstrakty

EN

Half a millennium of mercury production at Idrija is reflected in increased mercury contents in all of its environmental segments. Stream sediments have been monitored along the Idrijca and Soča rivers (70 km) every 5 years since 1991. It has been discovered that there was no decrease in mercury concentration in stream sediments during the last 15 years. Upstream from the town of Idrija, mercury concentrations in active river sediments vary from 1 to 10 mg/kg dry weight (average 3.3 mg/kg). From Idrija to Spodnja Idrija mercury concentrations increase extremely and vary greatly. The average in this area amounts to 603 mg/kg with individual contents up to 4121 mg/kg. From Spodnja Idrija to the Idrijca-Soča confluence the average is 213 mg/kg, while the average in the Soča river sediments is 57 mg/kg. Floodplain soils and samples of averaged meadow forage and plantain (Plantago lanceolata) were collected on river terraces at two localities in the lower course of the Idrijca. It has been determined that floodplains along the Idrijca River are strongly enriched with mercury. The average concentration of Hg in the upper 20 cm of the floodplain at IDB location is 157.7 and at TEM location it is 294.8 mg/kg. Samples of averaged meadow forage and plantain contain from 0.055 to 0.220 mg Hg/kg. In comparison to the plant samples from Idrija in the 1970s, these contents are relatively low. However, regarding mercury contents in plants in non-polluted soils the contents on the Idrijca River terraces are considerably higher than the background.

• Wydawca: -
• Czasopismo: Polish Journal of Environmental Studies
• Rocznik: 2008
• Tom: 17
• Numer: 2
• Strony: 227-236
• Opis fizyczny: p.227-236,fig.,ref.

Twórcy

autor

Gosar M

• Geological Survey of Slovenia, Dimiceva 14, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenija

Bibliografia

• 1. DIZDAREVIĆ T. The influence of mercury production in Idrija mine on the environment in the Idrija region and over a broad area. RMZ – Materials and Geoenvironment 48 (1), 56, 2000.
• 2. GOSAR M. Mercury in sediments and air as a reflection of Idrija mineralization and mining Ph.D. thesis, (in Slovenian) University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering, Department of Geology, Ljubljana, 125 pp. 1997.
• 3. GOSAR M., PIRC S., BIDOVEC M. Mercury in the Idrijca River sediments as a reflection of mining and smelting activities of the mercury mine Idrija. J. of Geochem. Exp. 58, 125, 1997.
• 4. BIESTER H., GOSAR M., COVELLI S. Mercury speciation in sediments affected by dumped mining residues in the drainage area of the Idrija mercury mine, Slovenia. Environ. Sci. Technol. 34 (16), 3330, 2000.
• 5. HORVAT M., KONTIĆ B., KOTNIK J., OGRINC N., JEREB V., LOGAR M., FAGANELI J., RAJAR R., ŠIRCA A., PETKOVŠEK G., ŽAGAR D., DIZDAREVIĆ T. Remediation of mercury polluted sites due to mining activities. Crit. Rev. Anal. Chem. 33, 291, 2003.
• 6. KOCMAN D., HORVAT M., KOTNIK J. Mercury fractionation in contaminated soils from the Idrija mercury mine region. J. Environ. Monit. 6, 696, 2004.
• 7. ŽAGAR D., KNAP A., WARWICK J. J., RAJAR R., HORVAT M., ČETINA M. Modelling of mercury transport and transformation processes in the Idrijca and Soča river system. Sci. Total Environ. 368 (1), 143, 2006.
• 8. ŽIBRET G., GOSAR M. Calculation of the mercury accumulation in the Idrijca River alluvial plain sediments. Sci. total environ. 368 (1), 291, 2006.
• 9. MURPHY A. P., COUDERT M., BARKER J. Plants as biomarkers for monitoring heavy metal contaminants on landfill sites using sequential extraction and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrophotometry (ICP-AES). J. Environ. Monitor. 2 (6), 621, 2000.
• 10. ČAR J. Mineralized rocks and ore residues in the Idrija region. In: Miklavčič M, editor. Idrija as a natural and anthropogenic laboratory, Mercury as a global pollutant, Proceeding, 24 May 1996, Idrija, Slovenia, pp 10-15, 1998.
• 11. GOSAR M., ČAR J. Influence of mercury ore roasting sites from 16th and 17th century on the mercury dispersion in surroundings of Idrija. Geologija 49 (1), 91, 2006.
• 12. HESS A. Verteilung, Mobilität und Verfügbarkeit von Hg in Böden und Sedimenten am Beispiel zweier hochbelasteter Industriestandorte, Band 71. Heidelberger Geowissenschaftliche Abhandlungen, Heidelberg, 1993.
• 13. PALINKAŠ L., PIRC S., MIKO S. F., DURN G., NAMJESNIK K., KAPELJ S. The Idrija mercury mine, Slovenia, a semi-millennium of continuous operation: an ecological impact. In: Richardson M, (Eds.) Environmental Toxicology Assessment. Taylor & Francis, London, pp. 317-341, 1995.
• 14. GNAMUŠ A., BYRNE A. R., HORVAT M. Mercury in the soil-plant-deer-predator food chain on a temperate forest in Slovenia. Environ. Sci. Technol. 34 (16), 3337, 2000.
• 15. GOSAR M., ŠAJN R. Mercury in soil and attic dust as a reflection of Idrija mining and mineralization (Slovenia). Geologija 44 (1), 137, 2001.
• 16. BIESTER H., GOSAR M., MÜLLER G. Mercury speciation in tailings of the Idrija mercury mine. J. Geochem. Explor. 65, 195, 1999.
• 17. GOSAR M. Mercury distribution in the Idrijca river sediments in 1991, 1995 and 2001. In: 6th International Symposium on Environmental Geochemistry: final programme and book of abstracts, pp. 213. 2003.
• 18. KOTNIK J., KOCMAN D., HORVAT M., GIBIČAR D., FAJON V., LOGAR M. Hg distribution in Soča river catchment area. RMZ – Materials and Geoenvironment 51 (1-3), 1142, 2004.
• 19. GOSAR M., ŠAJN R. Geochemical soil and attic dust survey in Idrija, Slovenia. In: Boutron, Claude F. (Eds.), Ferrari, Christophe (Eds.). XIIth International Conference on Heavy Metals in the Environment, Grenoble, May 26-30, 2003, J. Phys. IV 107, 561, 2003.
• 20. GOSAR M., ŠAJN R., BIESTER H. Binding of mercury in soils and attic dust in the Idrija mercury mine area (Slovenia). Sci. Total Environ. 369 (1/3), 150, 2006.
• 21. SIEGEL F. R. Environmental Geochemistry of Potentially Toxic Metals. Springer Verlag. 218 pp., 2002.
• 22. DARNLEY A. G., BJÖRKLUND A., BÖLVIKEN B., GUSTAVSSON N., KOVAL P. V., PLANT J. A., STEENFELT A., TAUCHID M., XIE X. A Global geochemical database for environmental and resource management. Final report of IGCP Project 259. Earth Sciences 19, UNESCO Publishing, Paris, 122 pp., 1995.
• 23. SALMINEN R., BATISTA M. J., BIDOVEC M., DEMETRIADES A., DE VIVO B., DE VOS W., DURIS M., GILUCIS A., GREGORAUSKIENE V., HALAMIC J., HEITZMANN P., LIMA A., JORDAN G., KLAVER G., KLEIN P., LIS J., LOCUTURA J., MARSINA K., MAZREKU A., O’CONNOR P. J., OLSSON S. Å., OTTESEN R. T., PETERSELL V., PLANT J.A., REEDER S., SALPETEUR I., SANDSTRÖM H., SIEWERS U., STEENFELT A., TARVAINEN T. Geochemical Atlas of Europe. Part 1 – Background Information, Methodology and Maps. Geological Survey of Finland. pp. 525, 2005.
• 24. BOSZKE L., KOWALSKI A. Total Mercury in Floodplain Soils of the Warta River, Poland Polish J. of Environ. Stud., 16 (4), 517, 2007.
• 25. OTTESEN R. T., BOGEN J., BOLVIKEN B., VOLDEN T. Overbank sediment: a representative sample medium for regional geochemical mapping. J. Geochem. Explor. 32, 257, 1989.
• 26. KOWALSKI A., SIEPAK M., BOSZKE L. Mercury contamination of surface and ground waters of Poznan, Poland. Polish J. Environ. Stud. 16 (1): 67, 2007.
• 27. KOWALSKI A., BOSZKE L., KURZYCA I. One year observation of mercury in wet precipitation of Poznań City (Poland). Polish J. Environ. Stud. 14, (Suppl. V), 37, 2005.
• 28. BOGEN J., BOLVIKEN B., OTTESEN R.T. Environmental studies in Western Europe using overbank sediment. In: Erosion and Sediment Transport Monitoring Programmes in River Basins, August 1992, Oslo, Norway, pp. 317-325, 1992.
• 29. HUDSON-EDWARDS K.A. Sources, mineralogy, chemistry and fate of heavy metal-bearing particles in miningaffected river systems. Mineral. Mag. 67(2), 205 2003.
• 30. MARKERT B. Plants as biomonitors. VCH Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & VCH Publishers Inc., 644 pp., Weinheim, New York, 1993.
• 31. MERTENS J., LUYSSAERT S., VERHEYEN K. Use and abuse of trace metal concentrations in plant tissue for biomonitoring and phytoextraction. Environ. Pollut. 138 (1), 1, 2005.
• 32. MADEJON P., MARANON T., MURILLO J.M., ROBINSON B. In defence of plants as biomonitors of soil quality. Environ. Pollut.143 (1), 1, 2006.
• 33. DEAN J. R. Bioavailability, Bioaccessibility and Mobility of Environmental Contaminants. Wiley-VCHVerlag GmbH, Weinheim, 316 pp., 2007.
• 34. HIGUERAS P., OYARZUN R., BIESTER H., LILLO J., LORENZO S. A first insight into mercury distribution and speciation in soils from the Almaden mining district, Spain. J. of Geochem. Explor. 80 (1), 95, 2003.
• 35. MILLAN R., GAMARRA R., SCHMID T., SIERRA M.J., QUEJIDO A. J., SANCHEZ D. M., CARDONAA. I., FERNANDEZ A., VERA R. Mercury content in vegetation and soils of the Almaden mining area (Spain). Sci. Total Environ. 368 (1), 79, 2006.
• 36. WALLSCHHLÄGER D., DESAI M. V. M., SPENGLE R. M.,WILKEN R. D. Mercury speciation in floodplain soils and sediments along a contaminated river transect. J. Environ. Qual. 27, 1034, 1998.
• 37. KABATA-PENDIAS A. & PENDIAS H. Trace elements in soils and plants. CRC Press, 315 pp., Boca Raton, Florida, 1986.
• 38. OFFICIAL GAZETTE SFRJ. Regulations of the highest permitted contents of toxic substances in forage (in Slovenian). Official gazette SFRJ 2, 28 pp., Beograd, 1987.
• 39. KOSTA L., BYRNE A. R., ZELENKO V., STEGNAR P., DERMELJ V., RAVNIK V. Studies on the uptake, distribution and transformations of mercury in living organisms in the Idrija region and comparative areas. Vestnik SKD 21, 49, 1974.
• 40. STEGNAR P. Uptake of Hg and its distribution in plants and animals. M. Sc. Thesis (in Slovenian), Biotehnical faculty, Biology department, Univesity of Ljubljana, 58 pp., Ljubljana. 1973.
• 41. GNAMUŠ A. Mercury in the terrestrial food chain – bioindicators, uptake and accumulation (in Slovenian). Jožef Stefan Institute, 266 pp., Ljubljana. 2002.
• 42. ROVINSKY F. Y., BURTSEVA L. V., CHICEVA T. B. Heavy metals in the vegetation as indicators for environmental pollution in the area of the former USSR. In: Markert B. (Eds.), Plants as biomonitors. VCH Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & VCH Publishers Inc., Weinheim, New York, pp 508-515, 1993.
• 43. BROOKS R. R. Geobotanical and biogeochemical methods for detecting mineralization and pollution from heavy metals in Oceania, Asia, and the Americas. In: Markert, B.(Eds), Plants as biomonitors. VCH Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & VCH Publishers Inc., Weinheim, New York, pp 127-155, 1993.