Heavy Metal Pollution of the Soils around the Mining Area near Shamlugh Town (Armenia) and Related Risks to the Environment
The heavy metal pollution of the soils around the mining area near Shamlugh town and related risks to human health were assessed. The investigations showed that the soils were polluted with heavy metals that can be ranked by anthropogenic pollution degree as follows: Cu>Pb>As>Co>Ni>Zn. The main sources of the anthropogenic metal pollution of the soils were the copper mining area near Shamlugh town, the Chochkan tailings storage facility and the trucks transferring ore from the mining area. Copper pollution degree in some observation sites was unallowable for agricultural production. The total non-carcinogenic chronic hazard index (THI) values in some places, including observation sites in Shamlugh town, were above the safe level (THI<1) for children living in this territory. Although the highest heavy metal enrichment degree in the soils was registered in case of copper, however, the highest health risks to humans especially children were posed by cobalt which is explained by the fact that heavy metals have different toxicity levels and penetration characteristics.
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[1] C. G. Afrifa, F. G. Ofosu, S. A. Bamford, D. A. Wordson, S. M. Atiemo,
I. J. K. Aboh, J. P. Adeti, “Heavy metal contamination in surface soil
dust at selected fuel filling stations in Accra, Ghana,” American Journal
of Scientific and Industrial Research, vol. 4, no. 4, pp. 404–413, 2013.
[2] R. B. de Souza, G. T. Maziviero, C. A. Christofoletti, T. G. Pinheiro,
“Soil contamination with heavy metals and petroleum derivates: Impact
on edaphic fauna and remediation strategies,” in Soil process and
current trends in quality assessment, chapter 6, M. C. H. Soriano, Ed.
InTech Publisher, 2013, pp. 175–203.
[3] Y. Hu, X. Liu, J. Bai, K. Shih, E. Y. Zeng, H. Cheng, “Assessing heavy
metal pollution in the surface soils of a region that had undergone three
decades of intense industrialization and urbanization,” Environmental
Science and Pollution Research, vol. 20, no. 9, pp. 6150–6159, 2013.
[4] K. Tahar, B. Keltoum, “Effects of heavy metals pollution in soil and
plant in the industrial area, West Algeria,” Journal of the Korean
Chemical Society, vol. 55, no. 6, pp. 1018–1023, 2011.
[5] M. G. Manasyan, A. T. Grigoryan, G. B. Eghyan, Lori marz, nature,
population, economy. Yerevan, Armenia, 2003, 208 p. (in Armenian).
[6] K. A. Ghazaryan, H. S. Movsesyan, N. P. Ghazaryan, K. V. Grigoryan,
“The ecological assessment of soils around Agarak town,” Biological
Journal of Armenia, vol. 65, no. 1, pp. 39-43, 2013.
[7] X. Liu, Q. Song, Y. Tang, W. Li, J. Xu, J. Wu, F. Wang, Ph. Ch.
Brookes, “Human health risk assessment of heavy metals in soilvegetabel
system: A multi medium analysis,” Science of the Total
Environment, vol. 463-464, pp. 530-540, 2013.
[8] M. Intawongse, J. R. Dean, “Uptake of heavy metals grown on
contaminated soil and their bioavailability in the human gastrointestinal
tract,” Food additives and contaminants, vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 36-48, 2006.
[9] Ministry of Environmental Protection of the People’s Republic of China,
Standards for Soil Environmental Quality, GB15618. MEP, China, 1995.
[10] T. F. Urushadze, G. O. Ghambashidze, W. H. Blum, A. Mentler, “Soil
contamination with heavy metals in Imereti region (Georgia),” Bulletin
of the Georgian National Academy of Sciences, vol. 175, no. 1, pp. 122-
130, 2007.
[11] G. A. Gevorgyan, K. A. Ghazaryan, H. S. Movsesyan, N. P. Ghazaryan,
K. V. Grigoryan, “The assessment of heavy metal enrichment of the
soils around Kapan town, Armenia,” in Proc. Int. Conf. Sustainable
Development Conference 2014: Green technology, renewable energy,
environmental protection, Bangkok, 2014, pp. 355–361.
[12] U.S. Department of Energy, The Risk Assessment Information System
(RAIS). U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Operations Office
(ORO), Oak Ridge, TN, USA, 2011.
[13] USEPA, Regional Screening Level Table (RSL) for Chemical
Contaminants at Superfund Sites. U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, Washington, DC, USA, 2011.
[14] Human health risk assessment (Appendix A), Online:
www.tva.gov/kingston/eeca/App%20A%20HHRA.pdf
[15] Y. B. Man, X. L. Sun, Y. G. Zhao, B. N. Lopez, S. S. Chung, S. C. Wu,
M. H. Wong, “Health risk assessment of abandoned agricultural soils
based on heavy metal contents in Hong Kong, the world’s most
populated city,” Environment International, vol. 36, no. 6, pp. 570–576,
2010.
[16] Z. Karim, B. A. Qureshi, “Health risk assessment of heavy metals in
urban soil of Karachi, Pakistan,” Human and Ecological Risk
Assessment, vol. 20, no. 3, 2013, pp. 658–667.
@article{"International Journal of Earth, Energy and Environmental Sciences:70270", author = "G. A. Gevorgyan and K. A. Ghazaryan and T. H. Derdzyan", title = "Heavy Metal Pollution of the Soils around the Mining Area near Shamlugh Town (Armenia) and Related Risks to the Environment", abstract = "The heavy metal pollution of the soils around the mining area near Shamlugh town and related risks to human health were assessed. The investigations showed that the soils were polluted with heavy metals that can be ranked by anthropogenic pollution degree as follows: Cu>Pb>As>Co>Ni>Zn. The main sources of the anthropogenic metal pollution of the soils were the copper mining area near Shamlugh town, the Chochkan tailings storage facility and the trucks transferring ore from the mining area. Copper pollution degree in some observation sites was unallowable for agricultural production. The total non-carcinogenic chronic hazard index (THI) values in some places, including observation sites in Shamlugh town, were above the safe level (THI", keywords = "Armenia, copper mine, heavy metal pollution of soil,
health risks. ", volume = "9", number = "6", pages = "726-7", }
