Chemical Characterization of Metal-Contaminated Soil in Two Study Areas in Finland

Abstract

The chemical characterization of contaminated soil was assessed in two study areas in Finland contaminated with metals. The aqua regia extractable and/or concentrated nitric acid leachable median concentrations of selected elements within the study areas were first compared to those from various geochemical baseline studies. Based on this comparison, the studied elements were divided into two groups: elements displaying general enrichment in the study areas and those with median concentrations within the range of baseline levels. In addition to comparison with the baseline levels, the distribution of aqua regia extractable concentrations of selected elements was assessed in relation to the Finnish soil screening values. The potential leachability of the selected metallic elements in contaminated, mainly man-made soil was examined by determining the ratio between the median ammonium acetate and median aqua regia extractable concentrations in the two study areas. Aqua regia extractable concentrations are considered to represent the near-total fraction of the elements and ammonium acetate extractable concentrations the ‘bioavailable’ fraction. These ratios were compared with those from non-polluted sites representing geochemical baselines. In addition, water soluble element concentrations were available from the two study areas and the ratio between synthetic rainwater or distilled, de-ionised water extractable and aqua regia extractable concentrations was calculated. The ratio between ammonium acetate extraction and aqua regia extraction indicated that of the studied elements, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn and V exist in a more leachable form in contaminated soil than in the natural environment. It can be assumed that these elements are also more ‘bioavailable’ in contaminated land and could therefore pose a risk to the environment. The water soluble fraction of the potential harmful elements was generally low in both study areas, but single samples had easily leachable metal concentrations. High concentrations of trace elements were found in the groundwater on the down stream side of the potential pollution source. The chemical characteristics of the soil material in both study areas were defined with hierarchical cluster analysis, with the results presented as dendrograms produced using Ward’s method. Although some clusters were identified from the dendrograms, no special characterization of the fill material was possible. However, suggestive grouping of certain element groups was observed. Similar grouping of elements was found in factor analysis. Cluster analysis as well as factor analysis was found to be feasible for the chemical characterization of soil provided that a sufficient number of samples with appropriate analysis are available.