Assessment of Cultivated Soil Contamination by Potentially Toxic Metals as a Result of a Galvanizing Plant Failure

Anna Świercz, Mirosław Szwed (), Łukasz Bąk, Adam Gawlik and Jakub Zamachowski
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Anna Świercz: Institute of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Jan Kochanowski University, ul. Uniwersytecka 7, 25-406 Kielce, Poland
Mirosław Szwed: Institute of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Jan Kochanowski University, ul. Uniwersytecka 7, 25-406 Kielce, Poland
Łukasz Bąk: Faculty of Environmental Engineering, Geodesy and Renewable Energy, University of Technology, Aleja Tysiaclecia Państwa Polskiego 7, 25-314 Kielce, Poland
Adam Gawlik: Institute of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Jan Kochanowski University, ul. Uniwersytecka 7, 25-406 Kielce, Poland
Jakub Zamachowski: Institute of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Jan Kochanowski University, ul. Uniwersytecka 7, 25-406 Kielce, Poland

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 12, 1-12

Abstract: Zinc is one of the more mobile metals in the soil and thus involves the risk of entering the food chain. Zinc compounds are used in the galvanization process, which is assumed to be safe for the environment. However, random events or failures such as unsealing bathtubs with liquid zinc or hydrochloric acid, as well as violent fires in industrial halls, may pose a real threat to the environment, including human health. Therefore, this research was carried out to determine the content of zinc and selected potentially toxic metals in arable soils after a failure in a galvanizing plant located in the village of Dębska Wola (southeastern Poland). In addition, the potential risk associated with excessive accumulation of identified pollutants in the environment was assessed. In order to determine the level of contamination, soil samples were taken, and basic physical and chemical properties were analysed. The concentrations of Zn, Pb, and Cd in the soil were determined using the atomic emission spectrometry technique with inductively coupled plasma (ICP-OES), and pH measurements were performed using the potentiometric method after prior wet mineralisation of the research samples. The analysed samples had a varied pH of the organic–mineral horizon from pH H2O 4.66 to pH H2O 5.33 and from pH KCl 3.89 to pH KCl 5.06. As a result of a failure, toxic metal fumes were released into the atmosphere, causing concentrations of Zn in the soil samples from 0–5 cm in the range of 1201–2007 mg∙kg −1 , as well as Pb (109–509 mg∙kg −1 ) and Cd (4.6–17 mg∙kg −1 ). High contents of zinc and lead found in several soil samples are of anthropogenic nature and require detailed monitoring in order to eliminate the risk associated with their accumulation. The study area should be re-analysed to determine the rate of reclamation of degraded soils.

Keywords: agricultural soils; toxic metals; geoaccumulation; ecological risk (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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