Assessment of Distribution of Potentially Toxic Elements in Different Environmental Media Impacted by a Former Chlor-Alkali Plant

Mert Guney, Zhanel Akimzhanova, Aiganym Kumisbek, Symbat Kismelyeva, Almira Guney, Ferhat Karaca and Vassilis Inglezakis
Additional contact information
Mert Guney: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering and Digital Sciences, The Environment & Resource Efficiency Cluster (EREC), Nazarbayev University, Kabanbay Batyr Ave. 53, Nur-Sultan 010000, Kazakhstan
Zhanel Akimzhanova: Environmental Engineering and Sustainability Management, École Polytechnique de Paris, Route de Saclay, CEDEX, 91128 Palaiseau, France
Aiganym Kumisbek: Faculty of Engineering, University of Debrecen, Otemeto Street 2-4, 4028 Debrecen, Hungary
Symbat Kismelyeva: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering and Digital Sciences, The Environment & Resource Efficiency Cluster (EREC), Nazarbayev University, Kabanbay Batyr Ave. 53, Nur-Sultan 010000, Kazakhstan
Almira Guney: Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, School of Engineering and Digital Sciences, The Environment & Resource Efficiency Cluster (EREC), Nazarbayev University, Kabanbay Batyr Ave. 53, Nur-Sultan 010000, Kazakhstan
Ferhat Karaca: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering and Digital Sciences, The Environment & Resource Efficiency Cluster (EREC), Nazarbayev University, Kabanbay Batyr Ave. 53, Nur-Sultan 010000, Kazakhstan
Vassilis Inglezakis: Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G1 1XQ, UK

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 24, 1-26

Abstract: Former industrially contaminated sites are a burden from the past that still pose environmental risks. During the second half of the 20th century, the Pavlodar region in North Kazakhstan had been a part of Soviet Union’s industrial system that operated a chlor-alkali plant (CAP). The former CAP discharged approximately 135 t Hg into nearby Lake Balkyldak with total losses to water, soil, and air estimated around 1000 t. Pollution by potentially toxic elements (PTEs) due to former and currently active industrial enterprises is an under-investigated concern in the Pavlodar region. The present study aims to provide a much-needed update on the situation around the CAP area by evaluating the contamination by Hg and other selected PTEs (As, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sb, Se, Zn) on the surrounding environment of the CAP and in the nearby urban zone. Soil, sediment, surface water, and groundwater samples have been collected in several sampling campaigns carried out in 2018 and 2019. Several samples had Hg concentrations exceeding maximum permissible concentrations (MPC), for soils and sediments (in mg/kg; range: 0.0006 to 24, average: 0.56) and for surface water and groundwater (in µg/L; range: 0.004 to 1340, average: 93). Critically high concentrations were mostly measured in the vicinity of Lake Balkyldak, where the majority of Hg had been discharged by the former CAP, indicating persisting Hg pollution in the studied zone. A comparison of the PTEs concentrations in soil and sediments showed less severe pollution but still some elevated values for As, Ba, Co, Cu, Mn, Ni, and Se. The inter-elemental relationship between Hg and assessed PTEs was weak, indicating the presence of sources independent from Hg emitting sources. Further research on Hg contamination on the exact territory of the former CAP is needed, and a detailed human health risk characterization to identify potential unacceptable risks is strongly recommended.

Keywords: heavy metals; site characterization; Pavlodar; mercury contamination; Kazakhstan; soil pollution; sediment pollution; water pollution (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/24/13829/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/24/13829/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:24:p:13829-:d:702382

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().