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- Ruth, Katja Viventsova, et al.
(author)
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Changes in soil organic matter composition and quantity with distance to a nickel smelter : a case study on the Kola Peninsula, NW Russia
- 2005
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In: Geoderma. - : Elsevier BV. - 0016-7061 .- 1872-6259. ; 127:3-4, s. 216-226
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The capacity of soils to absorb contamination depends on a number of factors, such as soil organic matter (SOM) that plays an essential role in adsorption of metal ions, especially in Podzols with their low content of clay minerals. Detailed analysis of SOM can provide information about the potential capacity of a soil to mobilise or immobilise contaminating substances, which in turn can be used to predict potential recovery of the soil ecosystem following heavy metal pollution. The purpose of this study was to learn how an increasing load of heavy metals (Cu and Ni) affects SOM content and structure, and which of the SOM functional groups are responsible for metal retention. The study area is located in the central part of the Kola Peninsula, south of Monchegorsk city and the nickel smelting complex ‘Severonickel’. The amount of total carbon in the soil decreased from 86% to 0.6% as the distance from the smelting complex decreased from 34 to 2 km. Functional groups of the SOM had a larger diversity in less polluted soils than in the soils located closer to the smelting complex. Carboxyl groups had a higher intensity of infra red (IR) bands in soils collected at the distance of 34–27 km than those located closer to the smelter. The most disturbed soil at the site closest to the smelter showed almost no presence of COOH groups. We conducted a laboratory experiment using soils from the least polluted sampling site to assess which SOM functional groups may be responsible for metal retention. Experimental contamination of the soil with the Cu/Ni solution resulted in an overall decrease in the absorbance for all studied functional groups within the measured range, except for COOH. This could be attributed both to changes in the structure of the SOM caused by its reaction with the contaminating substances, and to the leaching of some of the organic compounds from the soil during the experiment. Further studies are needed to better understand which functional groups in the SOM are active in the adsorption processes.
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| 3. |
- Carabante, Ivan, et al.
(author)
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Adsorption of As (V) on iron oxide nanoparticle films studied by in situ ATR-FTIR spectroscopy
- 2009
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In: Colloids and Surfaces A. - : Elsevier BV. - 0927-7757 .- 1873-4359. ; 346:1-3, s. 106-113
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Stabilization of arsenic contaminated soils by iron oxides has been proposed as a remediation technique to prevent leaching of arsenate into the environment. Fundamental studies are needed to establish under which conditions the complexes formed are stable. In the present work, a powerful technique, viz. ATR-FTIR spectroscopy, is adapted to studies of adsorption of arsenate species on iron oxides. This technique facilitates acquisition of both quantitative and qualitative in situ adsorption data.In the present work, about 800 nm thick films of 6-lineferrihydrite were deposited on ZnSe ATR crystals. Arsenate adsorption on the ferrihydrite film was studied at pD values ranging from 4 to 12 and at an arsenate concentration of 0.03 mM in D2O solution. The amount of adsorbed arsenate decreased with increasing pD as a result of the more negatively charged iron oxide surface at higher pD values. The adsorption and desorption kinetics were also studied. Arsenate showed a higher adsorption rate within the first 70 minutes and a much lower adsorption rate from 70 up to 300 minutes. The low adsorption rate at longer reaction times was partly due to a low desorption rate of already adsorbed carbonate species adsorbed at the surface. The desorption of carbonate species was evidenced by the appearance of negative absorption bands. The desorption of adsorbed arsenate complexes was examined by flushing with D2O at pD 4 and 8.5 and it was found that the complexes were very stable at pD 4 suggesting formation of mostly inner-sphere complexes whereas a fraction of the complexes at pD 8.5 were less stable than at pD 4, possibly due to the formation of outer-sphere complexes.In summary, the ATR technique was shown to provide in situ information about the adsorption rate, desorption rate and the speciation of the complexes formed within a single experiment, which is very difficult to obtain using other techniques.
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| 4. |
- Paton, Graeme I., et al.
(author)
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An ecotoxicity assessment of contaminated forest soils from the Kola Peninsula
- 2006
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In: Science of the Total Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0048-9697 .- 1879-1026. ; 355:1-3, s. 106-117
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Point source copper and nickel contamination emanating from smelters of the Kola Peninsula, NW Russia, has been observed since the mid-1960s. Previous studies have concentrated on the spatial distribution of heavy metals and their effects on forest ecology and indigenous mammals and birds. Soil is perceived as the major repository for the metal pollutants but there is a need to link the soil concentration of pollutants on the Kola Peninsula with biological parameters. Many standard methods currently used in soil ecotoxicology are developed and refined with artificial amendments and rarely modified for use in historically contaminated environments. In this study, forest soils were sampled along a 34 km transect from the smelter and analysed both chemically and with a range of ecologically relevant biological tests. Soil respiration, total nematode count, microbial heterotrophic numbers and minimal inhibitory concentrations to copper and nickel were carried out on bulk soil. The soil pore water was tested with bacterial and fungal bioluminescence-based biosensors. The heterotrophic numbers and their inhibitory concentration showed strong correlation with heavy metal concentrations while decreasing biosensor luminescence was related to increasing copper concentrations present in the pore waters. Overall, there were considerable impacts on some microbial parameters but other measures including respiration and nematode populations were insensitive to pollutant levels. While chemical analysis of heavy metals proved essential in defining the extent of contamination, environmentally relevant ecotoxicological tests complemented these data by demonstrating pollutant impact. Ecotoxicological approaches that study both the bulk soil and pore water may represent the key to understanding the fate of heavy metal in soils.
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