Accumulation of heavy metals and arsenic by living organisms at the waste dump of a gold processing plant

Abstract

The soil samples were taken from different depths, as well as plant samples and tissue and wool samples of small mammals Talpa europaea to study the ecological situation in the conditions of Novotroitsk tailing dump, the dumping site of Novotroitsk gold-arsenic deposits. For comparison, samples of plants, tissues, and wool of animals from background areas of the Kabanka River and Demarino village were obtained. The greatest interest was to determine the content of arsenic and heavy metals such as cadmium, copper, lead, and zinc in the samples. All samples from the tailing dump showed multiple exceedances of arsenic and heavy metals. On average, there was 1,286 times more arsenic in the soil than is allowed by health standards. It was noted that the accumulation of heavy metals and arsenic in plants is uneven and depends on the taxonomic affiliation and part of the plant, but exceeding the background levels were found in all samples. In animals, the highest concentrations of arsenic were found in wool; body organs – liver, exceeding the background values 181.3-273.9. There was also a noticeable accumulation of lead and copper in the liver. Thus, the ecology of the tailing dump area is in a depressed state, and comprehensive reclamation measures are needed.