Abstract
Great concern has been recently focused on antimony in the environment due to the potential risks posed by this metalloid to humans. In Poland, the concentrations of Sb in soils have not been well recognized. The aim of this study was to identify the sites in south-western Poland where soils are considerably enriched in Sb and to make a rough assessment of a related environmental risk. One hundred forty-four samples were collected from 20 Lower Silesian locations chosen as potentially enriched in Sb that included historical mining sites, tailings impoundments, close vicinities of operating copper smelters, and landfills as well as currently operating and historical shooting ranges. Total concentrations of Sb in soils were determined, and related pollution indices were calculated. Several locations were found where soils contain high concentrations of Sb, with a maximum that exceeded 5600 mg kg−1 Sb in the alluvial soil affected by historical mining. Sequential extraction showed a considerably high percentage of Sb extracted in potentially soluble fractions 1 (non-specifically sorbed) and 2 (specifically sorbed), particularly in the samples collected from shooting ranges and in some samples from historical mine areas. This result provides a strong premise for further risk- and remediation-oriented examination of soils in those sites. More detailed research is needed to determine a spatial extent of soil contamination in the sites identified as highly enriched in Sb. Contrary to these findings, soil material collected from copper tailings impoundments, surroundings of smelters, and landfills did not show any particular enrichment in Sb.
Highlights
Concentrations of Sb in Polish soils have not been well recognized, and the only data available are those collected from the national monitoring of arable soils and grasslands, which revealed the Sb content in soils in the range 0.06–1.03 mg kg−1 (Pasieczna 2012)
They represented the surroundings of historical mining sites situated in various regions of Central Sudetes: a stibnite mine (Dębowina), arsenic mines (Czarnów, Złoty Stok) and polymetallic ore mines (Bardo, Bystrzyca Górna, Dziećmorowice, Modliszów, Radzimowice, Rościszów, Srebrna Góra) (Karczewska et al 2007; Stysz et al 2012; Mączka and Stysz 2013; Nejbert et al 2013; Zagożdżon and Madziarz 2015; Lewińska et al 2017), close vicinities of operating copper smelters in Głogów and Legnica (Karczewska 1996; Szerszeń et al 1993), tailings impoundments Żelazny Most and Wartowice working for copper industry (Karczewska et al 2017), currently operating and historical shooting ranges situated in Wrocław and Oleśnica (Lewińska et al 2017), two closed municipal landfills in Wrocław, and a waste dumping site in Nowa Wieś Legnicka (Table 4)
The study did not involve any advanced examination of a spatial distribution of soil enrichment with Sb or a real extent of pollution, but it indicated the sites where soil Sb concentrations and pollution indices were high
Summary
Concentrations of Sb in Polish soils have not been well recognized, and the only data available are those collected from the national monitoring of arable soils and grasslands, which revealed the Sb content in soils in the range 0.06–1.03 mg kg−1 (Pasieczna 2012). Wilson et al (2004) reported as high value of Sb concentration in soil as 80,200 mg kg−1 in the close neighborhood of a smelter in New Zealand. Another kind of industrial activities that can considerably enrich soils in Sb is battery factories. Literature reported high concentrations of Sb in soils in the neighborhoods of landfills and waste incinerators (Filella et al 2009; Kabata-Pendias 2011). Hu et al (2015) found 9000 mg kg−1 Sb in the top soils of brake
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