Hazardous enrichment of toxic elements in soils and olives in the urban zone of Lavrio, Greece, a legacy, millennia-old silver/lead mining area and related health risk assessment
Journal
Journal of Hazardous Materials
Journal Volume
434
Journal Volume
434
Start Page
128906
ISSN
03043894
Date Issued
2022-07-15
Author(s)
Antoniadis, Vasileios
Thalassinos, Giorgos
Levizou, Efi
Wang, Jianxu
Shaheen, Sabry M.
Rinklebe, Jörg
Abstract
Lavrio is a Greek town with several abandoned Ag/Pb mines. In this study, 19 potentially toxic elements (PTEs) were measured in soil, weeds, and olives. Levels of seven of the studied PTEs in soil were highly elevated: Zn (56.2–58,726 mg kg-1), Pb (36.2–31,332), As (7.3–10,886), Cu (8.3–1273), Sb (0.99–297.8), Cd (0.17–287.7), and Ag (0.09–38.7). Synchrotron-based X-ray absorption near edge structure analysis of the soils revealed that As was predominantly associated with scorodite, Pb with humic substances, Zn with illite, Zn(OH)2 and humic substances, and Fe with goethite-like minerals. The transfer of the PTEs to weeds was relatively low, with the transfer coefficient being less than 1.0 for all PTEs. Cadmium in table olives surpassed 0.05 mg kg-1 fresh weight (the limit in EU), while Pb surpassed its limit in approximately half of the samples. Health risk assessment confirmed soil contamination in the study area where As and Pb hazard quotients were well above 1.0 and the average hazard index equaled 11.40. Additionally, the cancer risk values exceeding the 1 × 10-4 threshold. The results obtained in the study indicate that Lavrio urgently requires an adequate ecofriendly remediation plan, including revegetation with tolerant species and targeted efforts to chemically stabilize harmful PTEs. The presented approach may serve as a pivotal study for industrial areas with similar contamination levels.
Subjects
Carcinogenic risk
Hazardous metal(loids)
Non-carcinogenic risk
Table olives
Uptake by weeds
Other Subjects
Hazards; Health risks; Revegetation; Silver; Soil conservation; Soil pollution; Soils; X ray absorption; X ray absorption near edge structure spectroscopy; Zinc; Carcinogenic risk; Elements in soil; Hazardous metal(loids); Hazardous metals; Health risk assessments; Non-carcinogenic risk; Potentially toxic elements; Table olives; Uptake by weed; Risk assessment; arsenic; cadmium; copper; ferric hydroxide; iron; lead; mineral; silver; zinc; heavy metal; lead; silver; health risk; revegetation; risk assessment; Article; cancer risk; Greece; health risk assessment; humic substance; industrial area; mining; nonhuman; olive; soil pollution; urban area; X ray absorption near edge structure spectroscopy; analysis; chemistry; environmental monitoring; mining; olive tree; procedures; risk assessment; soil; soil pollutant; toxicity; Greece; Environmental Monitoring; Greece; Humic Substances; Lead; Metals, Heavy; Mining; Olea; Risk Assessment; Silver; Soil; Soil Pollutants
Publisher
Elsevier B.V.
Type
journal article