Assessment of Soil Quality Status and the Ecological Risk in the Baia Mare, Romania Area

Ioana Monica Sur, Valer Micle, Evelyn Terez Polyak and Timea Gabor
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Ioana Monica Sur: Department of Environment Engineering and Entrepreneurship of Sustainable Development, Faculty of Materials and Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, 103-105 Muncii Avenue, 400 641 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Valer Micle: Department of Environment Engineering and Entrepreneurship of Sustainable Development, Faculty of Materials and Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, 103-105 Muncii Avenue, 400 641 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Evelyn Terez Polyak: Department of Environment Engineering and Entrepreneurship of Sustainable Development, Faculty of Materials and Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, 103-105 Muncii Avenue, 400 641 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Timea Gabor: Department of Environment Engineering and Entrepreneurship of Sustainable Development, Faculty of Materials and Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, 103-105 Muncii Avenue, 400 641 Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 7, 1-16

Abstract: Industrial activities in the Baia Mare, Romania area have generated strong pollution, and the impact on soil quality in the neighboring areas of the city remains unclear. The aim of the research is to investigate samples of soil from Baia Mare in order to determine the quality of the soil and also the ecological risk of the soil. This study presents among the first studies using the ecological risk assessment methodology on the soil from the Baia Mare area and aims to serve as scientific support for future studies and research. Evaluation of the soil quality state was performed by determining the physical-chemical characteristics of the soil (pH, texture, structure, and concentration of metals). Evaluation of the anthropic activity from the studied areas was conducted by determining the pollution indices: C f ; C d , PLI , Er , and PERI . The results of this study indicate that the surface soils have very high concentrations of metals (Cd: 3.5–14.4 mg kg −1 ; Cu: 9.4–361.5 mg kg −1 ; Pb: 29.7–1973 mg kg −1 ), with exceedances of the limit values established in the Romanian legislation. Results regarding the degree of contamination, the PLI pollution load index (1.3–14.9), and the PERI potential ecological risk index (733.9–4686) indicate that soils in the studied area have a very high degree of pollution.

Keywords: pollution indices; soil quality assessment; metal pollution; ecological risk (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 (1)

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