Abstract
The aim of the study was to assess the content, distribution, soil binding capacity, and ecological risk of cadmium and lead in the soils of Malopolska (South Poland). The investigation of 320 soil samples from differently used land (grassland, arable land, forest, wasteland) revealed a very high variation in the metal content in the soils. The pollution of soils with cadmium and lead is moderate. Generally, a point source of lead and cadmium pollution was noted in the study area. The highest content of cadmium and lead was found in the northwestern part of the area—the industrial zones (mining and metallurgical activity). These findings are confirmed by the arrangement of semivariogram surfaces and bivariate Moran’s correlation coefficients. Among the different types of land use, forest soils had by far the highest mean content of bioavailable forms of both metals. The results showed a higher soil binding capacity for lead than for cadmium. However, for both metals, extremely high (class 5) accumulation capacities were dominant. Based on the results, the investigated soils had a low (Pb) and moderate (Cd) ecological risk on living components. Soil properties, such as organic C, pH, sand, silt, and clay content, correlated with the content of total and bioavailable forms of metals in the soils. The correlations, despite being statistically significant, were characterized by very low values of correlation coefficient (r = 0.12–0.20, at p ≤ 0.05). Therefore, the obtained data do not allow to define any conclusions as to the relationships between these soil properties. However, it must be highlighted that there was a very strong positive correlation between the total content of cadmium and lead and their bioavailable forms in the soils.
Highlights
Soil can accumulate heavy metals coming from both natural and a wide range of anthropogenic sources (Fifi et al 2013; Jiao et al 2015; Elanzer et al 2015; Nouri and Haddioui 2016)
The observed mean levels of cadmium and lead in the topsoil were higher than the global average of Cd (0.53 mg kg-1 d.m.) and Pb (22 mg kg-1 d.m.) content in uncontaminated soils (Kabata-Pendias and Pendias 2001)
The content, distribution, pollution, soil binding capacity, and ecological risk assessment of cadmium and lead in soils of Malopolska were investigated in this study
Summary
Soil can accumulate heavy metals coming from both natural and a wide range of anthropogenic sources (Fifi et al 2013; Jiao et al 2015; Elanzer et al 2015; Nouri and Haddioui 2016). Total content of metals is a useful indicator used for the assessment of soil contamination. It cannot predict the mobility, bioavailability, and toxicity of trace elements (Vanek et al 2005; Fifi et al 2013; Baran et al 2014; Elanzer et al 2015). Cadmium and lead play a key role in this pollution and must be considered in the ecological risk assessment (ERA) in a soil system. The results of the ecological risk assessment can reveal the possibility for soil to be contaminated and even for the ecosystem to be harmed by the concerned heavy metals.
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