Research Into the Metal/Metalloid Movements in Soil and Groundwater in the Areas Surrounding the Coal Waste Dump Hałda Ruda (Upper Silesia, Poland)
Creators: name: Zerzucha, Piotr
name: Magdalena Jabłońska-Czapla, Czesława Rosik-Dulewska
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2016
Subjects: subject: 30101 Analytical Spectrometry
subject: FOS: Chemical sciences
subject: FOS: Chemical sciences

description: Upper Silesia is highly degraded due to the anthropogenic activity.On the one hand, the industrialization facilitated the economic development of the Upper Silesian cities. On the other hand, it caused serious environmental pollution [3, 21]. Many highly urbanized and industrialized cities in Upper Silesia do not possess data on the degradation level of the surface ground or dynamics of negative phenomena. oreover, there is no assessment of the ground transformation under severe anthropopressureconditions. Determining the influence of changes in theenvironment resulting from its exploitation is still an important matter [6, 7, 10, 16], particularly in degraded areas, such as those in Upper Silesia.Heavy metals are the main soil pollutants. They pass into groundwater and pollute the surrounding areas. Increased contents of heavy metals can adversely affect biological properties of soils. Theymay also contaminate ground and underground water and toxically influence the plants. Natural contents of heavy metals in soils do not usually pose a threat for plants, animals or humans. Unfortunately, the area ofsoils with the natural heavy metal contents gradually decreases due to the impact of human civilization and industrialization, which is confirmed by many studies [36]. What is more, gaps in the knowledge of the naturalheavy metal contents in soils usually result in oversimplifications in the assessments and interpretations of heavy metal pollution causes. Rock waste from hard coal mines is the main type of waste generated in Polandand stored in the dumps every year. Coal mine dumps ought to be perceived as serious and long-term sources of groundwater pollutants. The pollution potential of low-buffered capacity and acidification of wasteincreases with time because of FeS2 decomposition [32].Modern analytical methods, such as the EDXRF spectrometry and ICP-MS, enable simultaneous determinations of numerous analytes. Theyoffer low limits of detection and high selectivity, which extends the research area. On the other hand, the amount of the obtained multidimensional data is massive. The information requires long-term analysis. Consequently,a number of problems related to the visualization and correct interpretation of the results arise. Chemometrics concerns the extraction of relevant information from measurements and chemical experimentsthrough the effective organization of the analytical processes [5, 31]. Its tasks include experiment optimization, correct calibration, quality controland final data analysis. Chemometrics requires a proper definition of the problem, a detailed experiment plan and its realization carried out in accordance with the principles of the chemical metrology. Under such circumstances,chemometric analysis of the obtained results offer correctassessments and valid conclusions. The X-ray fluorescence (XRF) is one of the most popular methods used to examine elemental compositions ofsoils. The XRF meets the requirements for modern laboratory techniques [23]. It enables quick determinations of qualitative compositions. On the other hand, establishing precise quantitative compositions involves proceduresof matrix effect correction, which entails a large number ofstandards [39]. At present, the Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) is one of the best techniques for qualitative and quantitative analysis of heavy metals. It enables reasearchers to investigate concentrations of main and trace elements present in soils [4, 12, 20, 38],bottom sediments [2, 8, 18], ashes [9] or minerals [11, 22]. The EDXRF is a relatively simple and inexpensive method in comparison with other techniques for quantitative and qualitative analysis of metals. At present, the inductively coupled plasma – mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) is the best method supporting researchers in quantitative analysis of metals and metalloids at the ppt/ppb concentration levels. It is an appropriate tool for analyzing elements in a broad range of concentrations. Importantly, it is commonly used for the environmental analysis [14, 30].