Abstract
Abstract This study was conducted to investigate heavy metals bioaccumulation in industrialized soils in surrounding of Košice city (Slovakia), using earthworms. In the present research, we used ecotoxicity tests with Dendrobaena veneta (7 and 28-day bioassays) to infer about potential toxic risks to the agricultural (A) and permanent grass vegetation (PGV) of soils around the plant U. S. Steel Košice. The total Fe, Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd, Cr and As contents and eco-toxicological tests of industrialized soils from the Košice area were performed for 12 sampling sites in years 2016 – 2017. An influence of the sampling sites distance from the largest steel producer plant on the total concentrations of heavy metals was determined for Fe, Cd, Cr and As. It was found that earthworms (Dendrobaena veneta) in some cases caused a decrease of metals concentration in contaminated soils, the largest metal concentration differences were recorded in the samples PGV (4) U. S. Steel-plant-main gate. The results of the bioaccumulation factors of heavy metals in D. veneta (BAFs/7-28 d) are < 1 for the studied metals order in the sequence: Cr < Fe < Pb < Cu < As and > 1 for Zn > Cd.
Highlights
Urban environmental quality is vital to be investigated as large parts of human populations live in cities
The soil types examined here were of silty-clay texture from various areas to keep representativeness, and their quality was established with reference to law (220/2004, No.2, Slovak Republic)
Steel-plant high Fe, Zn, Pb, Cd, Cr and As concentrations were detected for permanent grass vegetation (PGV) soils (Table 2)
Summary
Urban environmental quality is vital to be investigated as large parts of human populations live in cities. Soils are susceptible to anthropogenic contamination with metallic trace elements that generate risks to ecosystems and human health. In industrialized areas urban soils are highly modified and intensively managed. The city in eastern Slovakia, is exposed to typical urban contamination sources such as road traffic, municipal sphere, and small industrial sources. The transport of heavy metals in soil is the result of processes between soil and metal components, which include processes of physical, chemical, and biological nature (Violante et al 2008). Their monitoring and studying should be complex to provide relevant picture on their effects and impacts. Earthworms by virtue of their habitation participate in the formation of soil structure and regulate dynamics of soil organic matter, (directly or indirectly) can modulate the transfer of inorganic and organic
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