Valuable Secondary Habitats or Hazardous Ecological Traps? Environmental Risk Assessment of Minor and Trace Elements in Fly Ash Deposits across the Czech Republic

Eliška Chmelová, Vojtech Kolar, Jiří Jan, Bruno M. Carreira, Andrea Landeira-Dabarca, Šárka Otáhalová, Martina Poláková, Lucie Vebrová, Jakub Borovec, David S. Boukal and Robert Tropek
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Eliška Chmelová: Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
Vojtech Kolar: Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
Jiří Jan: Department of Ecosystem Biology, Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
Bruno M. Carreira: Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
Andrea Landeira-Dabarca: Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
Šárka Otáhalová: Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
Martina Poláková: Department of Ecosystem Biology, Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
Lucie Vebrová: Department of Ecosystem Biology, Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
Jakub Borovec: Department of Ecosystem Biology, Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
David S. Boukal: Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
Robert Tropek: Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 18, 1-15

Abstract: Deposits of coal combustion wastes, especially fly ash, are sources of environmental and health risks in industrial regions. Recently, fly ash deposits have been reported as habitat surrogates for some threatened arthropods in Central Europe. However, the potential environmental risks of fly ash have not yet been assessed in the region. We analysed concentrations of 19 minor and trace elements in 19 lignite combustion waste deposits in the Czech Republic. We assessed their environmental risks by comparison with the national and EU legislation limits, and with several commonly used indices. Over 50% of the samples exceeded the Czech national limits for As, Cu, V, or Zn, whilst only V exceeded the EU limits. For some studied elements, the high-risk indices were detected in several localities. Nevertheless, the measured water characteristics, the long-term presence of fly ash, previous leaching by acid rains, and the low amount of organic matter altogether can infer low biological availability of these elements. We presume the revealed high concentrations of some heavy metals at some studied sites can be harmful for some colonising species. Nevertheless, more ecotoxicological research on particular species is needed for final decision on their conservation potential for terrestrial and freshwater biota.

Keywords: biodiversity conservation; coal combustion waste; energy industry; environmental pollution; human-made habitats; heavy metals (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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