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Concentrations of Available Heavy Metals in Mediterranean Agricultural Soils and their Relation with Some Soil Selected Properties: A Case Study in Typical Mediterranean Soils

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  • José Rato Nunes

    (Unidade de Investigação em Química Ambiental (UIQA), Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, Lisboa 1340-017, Portugal
    Instituto Politécnico de Portalegre, Praça do Municipio, Portalegre 7300, Portugal)

  • José Ramos-Miras

    (Escuela Politécnica Superior, Departamento de Agromia, Área de Química Agrícola, Universidad de Almería, Almeria 04120, Spain
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • António Lopez-Piñeiro

    (Department of Edaphology, Universidad da Extremadura, Badajoz 06071, Spain
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Luís Loures

    (Instituto Politécnico de Portalegre, Praça do Municipio, Portalegre 7300, Portugal
    Centre for Spatial and Organizational Dynamics (CIEO), Universidade do Algarve, Faro 8005-139, Portugal
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Carlos Gil

    (Escuela Politécnica Superior, Departamento de Agromia, Área de Química Agrícola, Universidad de Almería, Almeria 04120, Spain
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • José Coelho

    (Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, Lisboa 1340-017, Portugal
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Ana Loures

    (Instituto Politécnico de Portalegre, Praça do Municipio, Portalegre 7300, Portugal)

Abstract

The characterization of the content of trace metals in soils is an instrument in many programs of environmental protection, including the establishment of regional-level standards to detect sites affected by contamination. The objectives of the present study were to study the available levels of Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn in surface horizons of agricultural soils in a typical European Mediterranean region, to establish the geochemical baseline concentration (GBC), background level (BL), and reference value (RV) of each of these available metals, and to investigate their possible correlations with soil properties. To establish the GBC and RV values, we used the “standard threshold method”. Topsoil samples (0–20 cm) were collected from 630 sites, and extracted with Diethylene Triamine Pentaacetic Acid (DTPA) to determine their available heavy metal concentrations. The GBC values established were: 0.04 to 0.90 mg kg −1 , 0.70 to 2.50 mg kg −1 , 0.10 to 6.30 mg kg −1 , 0.30 to 7.90 mg kg −1 , 0.29 to 4.50 mg kg −1 , and 0.18 to 2.50 mg kg −1 for Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn, respectively. Soil properties were found to be correlated with the available heavy metal content, suggesting that the enhanced mobility of heavy metals are related to anthropic activities.

Suggested Citation

  • José Rato Nunes & José Ramos-Miras & António Lopez-Piñeiro & Luís Loures & Carlos Gil & José Coelho & Ana Loures, 2014. "Concentrations of Available Heavy Metals in Mediterranean Agricultural Soils and their Relation with Some Soil Selected Properties: A Case Study in Typical Mediterranean Soils," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(12), pages 1-15, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:6:y:2014:i:12:p:9124-9138:d:43295
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Asma Shaheen & Javed Iqbal, 2018. "Spatial Distribution and Mobility Assessment of Carcinogenic Heavy Metals in Soil Profiles Using Geostatistics and Random Forest, Boruta Algorithm," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-20, March.
    2. José Manuel Rato Nunes & António Bonito & Luis Loures & José Gama & Antonio López-Piñeiro & David Peña & Ángel Albarrán, 2017. "Effects of the European Union Agricultural and Environmental Policies in the Sustainability of Most Common Mediterranean Soils," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-16, August.
    3. Xianfeng Cheng & Jarmila Drozdova & Tomas Danek & Qianrui Huang & Wufu Qi & Shuran Yang & Liling Zou & Yungang Xiang & Xinliang Zhao, 2018. "Pollution Assessment of Trace Elements in Agricultural Soils around Copper Mining Area," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-18, December.
    4. Elżbieta Rolka & Andrzej Cezary Żołnowski & Mirosław Wyszkowski & Weronika Zych & Anna Skorwider-Namiotko, 2023. "Wood Biomass Ash (WBA) from the Heat Production Process as a Mineral Amendment for Improving Selected Soil Properties," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-17, July.
    5. Cuiying Zhou & Xingxing Ge & Wei Huang & Dexian Li & Zhen Liu, 2019. "Effects of Aqua-Dispersing Nano-Binder on Clay Conductivity at Different Temperatures," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(18), pages 1-13, September.
    6. José Rato Nunes & Luís Loures & António Lopez-Piñeiro & Ana Loures & Eric Vaz, 2016. "Using GIS towards the Characterization and Soil Mapping of the Caia Irrigation Perimeter," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-15, April.
    7. Jose Navarro-Pedreño & María Belén Almendro-Candel & Ignacio Gómez Lucas & Manuel M. Jordán Vidal & Jaume Bech Borras & Antonis A. Zorpas, 2018. "Trace Metal Content and Availability of Essential Metals in Agricultural Soils of Alicante (Spain)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-11, December.
    8. Ludovico Pontoni & Eric D. Van Hullebusch & Yoan Pechaud & Massimiliano Fabbricino & Giovanni Esposito & Francesco Pirozzi, 2016. "Colloidal Mobilization and Fate of Trace Heavy Metals in Semi-Saturated Artificial Soil (OECD) Irrigated with Treated Wastewater," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(12), pages 1-13, December.
    9. Farid Ul Haque & Faridullah Faridullah & Muhammad Irshad & Aziz-Ur-Rahim Bacha & Zahid Ullah & Muhammad Fawad & Farhan Hafeez & Akhtar Iqbal & Rashid Nazir & Abdulwahed Fahad Alrefaei & Mikhlid H. Alm, 2023. "Distribution and Speciation of Trace Elements in Soils of Four Land-Use Systems," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-13, October.

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