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Carpathian Journal of Earth and Environmental Sciences

An International Peer-Reviewed Open Access Journal

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ARTICLE IN » Volume 13, 2018 - Number 1

ACCUMULATION OF HEAVY METALS IN THE URBAN SOILS OF THE CITY OF SKARŻYSKO-KAMIENNA (POLAND) WITH REGARD TO LAND USE



Anna ŚWIERCZ1 & Ewelina ZAJĘCKA2
1Chair of Environmental Protection and Modelling, Jan Kochanowski University, ul. Świętokrzyska 15, Kielce, Poland, e-mail: swierczag@poczta.onet.pl
2Institute of Biology, Jan Kochanowski University, ul. Świętokrzyska 15, Kielce, Poland, e-mail: ewelina.smorzewska@gmail.com


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Abstract

DOI: 10.26471/cjees/2018/013/022

This article raises the issue of heavy metal concentrations in urban soils. Soil samples were collected from the surface layers of urban soils located in industrial areas, urban allotment garden areas as well as urban green areas in the city of Skarżysko-Kamienna which has chiefly industrial origins. The soil samples collected in Skarżysko-Kamienna indicated slightly acidic pHKCl in the range of 3.48-6.97. The highest average pH KCl value was reported for the industrial areas. The analyses indicated varied concentrations of heavy metals. The maximum values were reported for the soil samples coming from the industrial areas, except for Cd whose highest values were noted in the soils of urban allotment gardens. The results in comparison to the geochemical background defined for the soils of Skarżysko-Kamienna demonstrated higher concentrations of Pb, Cu, and Zn in the soils. This was confirmed by the analysis of the contamination degree determined through the geoaccumulation index (Igeo); however, the Igeo values were very differentiated within each group of land-use types. The study does not indicate a direct relationship between heavy metal concentrations and types of land use, except for Cr in the case of which such relationships were statistically proved. The degree of contamination of the city is especially affected by the locations having outlying concentrations of heavy metals as showed by the spatial presentation of the obtained results by means of the kriging method.

Keywords:
  • urban
  • soils
  • heavy
  • metals
  • soil
  • properties
  • Skarżysko-Kamienna
  • geoaccumulation
  • index

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© 2018 by the author(s). Licensee CJEES, Carpathian Association of Environment and Earth Sciences. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

How to cite

Anna ŚWIERCZ & Ewelina ZAJĘCKA (2018). ACCUMULATION OF HEAVY METALS IN THE URBAN SOILS OF THE CITY OF SKARŻYSKO-KAMIENNA (POLAND) WITH REGARD TO LAND USE, Carpathian Journal of Earth and Environmental Sciences, February 2018, Vol. 13, No. 1, p. 249 – 266; https://doi.org/10.26471/cjees/2018/013/022

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