Metal Contents and Pollution Indices Assessment of Surface Water, Soil, and Sediment from the Arieș River Basin Mining Area, Romania

Ana Moldovan, Anamaria Iulia Török, Eniko Kovacs, Oana Cadar, Ionuț Cornel Mirea and Valer Micle
Additional contact information
Ana Moldovan: INCDO-INOE 2000, Research Institute for Analytical Instrumentation, 67 Donath Street, 400293 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Anamaria Iulia Török: INCDO-INOE 2000, Research Institute for Analytical Instrumentation, 67 Donath Street, 400293 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Eniko Kovacs: INCDO-INOE 2000, Research Institute for Analytical Instrumentation, 67 Donath Street, 400293 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Oana Cadar: INCDO-INOE 2000, Research Institute for Analytical Instrumentation, 67 Donath Street, 400293 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Ionuț Cornel Mirea: Department of Geology and Paleontology, Emil Racovitza Institute of Speleology, Calea 13 Septembrie, 050711 Bucharest, Romania
Valer Micle: Faculty of Materials and Environmental Engineering, Technical University, 103-105 Muncii Boulevard, 400641 Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 13, 1-21

Abstract: The current study was conducted to assess the level and spatial distribution of metal pollution in surface water, soil, and sediment samples from the Arieș River basin, located in central Romania, an area impacted by various mining and industrial operations. Several pollution indices, spatial distributions, cluster analyses, principal component analyses, and heat maps were applied for evaluating the contamination level with Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb, Mn, As, and Hg in the area. Based on the results of the Heavy-Metal Pollution Index and of the Heavy-Metal Evaluation Index of the surface-water samples, the middle part of the Arieș River basin, near and downstream of the gold mine impoundment, was characterized by high pollution levels. The metal concentration was higher near the tailing impoundment, with increased levels of Cu, Ni, Zn, and Pb in the soil samples and As, Cd, Pb, Na, K, Ca, Mn, and Al in the sediment samples. Ca (23.7–219 mg/L), Mg (2.55–18.30 mg/L), K (0.64–14.70 mg/L), Al (0.06–22.80 mg/L), and Mn (0.03–22.40 mg/L) had the most remarkable spatial variation among the surface-water samples, while various metal contents fluctuated strongly among the sampling locations. Al varied from 743 to 19.8 mg/kg, Fe from 529 to 11.4 mg/kg, Ca from 2316 to 11.8 mg/kg, and Mg from 967 to 2547 mg/kg in the soil samples, and Al varied from 3106 to 8022 mg/kg, Fe from 314 to 5982 mg/kg, Ca from 1367 to 8308 mg/kg, and Mg from 412 to 1913 mg/kg in the sediment samples. The Potential Ecological Risk Index values for soil and sediments were in the orders Cu > Ni > Pb > Hg > Cr > As > Mn > Zn > Cd and As > Cu > Cr > Cd > Pb > Ni > Hg > Mn > Zn, respectively, and the highest values were found around the gold mine impoundment.

Keywords: metals; tailings; mining waste; risk assessment; contamination level (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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