<abstract xml:lang="en" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>For the sustainable development of urban areas, it is necessary to identify if environmental pollution exists and where hot spot pollution sources lie. In this study, 280 topsoil samples were collected from an industry estate in Zlin (the Czech Republic). In these samples, the presence of toxic metal was analyzed by energy dispersed X-Ray fluorescence (ED-XRF), and statistical analysis revealed that the major anthropogenic contaminants in the topsoil were Pb, Zn and Sn. Further contaminant analysis by atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) determined the maximum contents of 28558.47 mg/kg for Pb, 1132.35 mg/kg for Sn and 2865.22 mg/kg for Zn in selected topsoil samples. According to soil pollution index results, the main proportion of topsoil is contaminated, with the possible sources of contamination being traffic and a nearby municipal heating plant. This study proves that the combination of preliminary ED-XRF topsoil analysis, a multivariative statistical approach, AAS analysis and the geographical information system (GIS) is effective and together form a powerful tool for mapping topsoil contamination and conducting an environmental risk assessment.</p></abstract>

For the sustainable development of urban areas, it is necessary to identify if environmental pollution exists and where hot spot pollution sources lie. In this study, 280 topsoil samples were collected from an industry estate in Zlin (the Czech Republic). In these samples, the presence of toxic metal was analyzed by energy dispersed X-Ray fluorescence (ED-XRF), and statistical analysis revealed that the major anthropogenic contaminants in the topsoil were Pb, Zn and Sn. Further contaminant analysis by atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) determined the maximum contents of 28558.47 mg/kg for Pb, 1132.35 mg/kg for Sn and 2865.22 mg/kg for Zn in selected topsoil samples. According to soil pollution index results, the main proportion of topsoil is contaminated, with the possible sources of contamination being traffic and a nearby municipal heating plant. This study proves that the combination of preliminary ED-XRF topsoil analysis, a multivariative statistical approach, AAS analysis and the geographical information system (GIS) is effective and together form a powerful tool for mapping topsoil contamination and conducting an environmental risk assessment.

Screening of the Spatial Distribution of Risk Metals in Topsoil from an Industrial Complex

Department of Environment Protection Engineering, Faculty of Technology, Tomas Bata University in Zlin, nam. T.G. Masaryka 275, CZ-76272 Zlin, Czech Republic

Centre of Polymer Systems, Department of Environment Protection Engineering, Faculty of Technology, Tomas Bata University in Zlin, nam. T.G. Masaryka 5555, CZ-76001 Zlin, Czech Republic

Ecological Chemistry and Engineering S

For the sustainable development of urban areas, it is necessary to identify if environmental pollution exists and where hot spot pollution sources lie. In this...

Screening of the Spatial Distribution of Risk Metals in Topsoil from an Industrial Complex

Published Online: May 24, 2012

Page range: 259 - 272

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/v10216-011-0020-0

Keywords
industrial urban soil, pollution, heavy metals, multivariative statistics, cluster analysis, ED-XRF, AAS, GIS

This content is open access.

Screening of the Spatial Distribution of Risk Metals in Topsoil from an Industrial Complex

Published Online: May 24, 2012

Page range: 259 - 272

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/v10216-011-0020-0

Keywordsindustrial urban soil, pollution, heavy metals, multivariative statistics, cluster analysis, ED-XRF, AAS, GIS

This content is open access.

Keywords
industrial urban soil, pollution, heavy metals, multivariative statistics, cluster analysis, ED-XRF, AAS, GIS