Human accessibility of Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn in urban soils from the city of Torino, Italy

Several physiologically based extraction procedures have been proposed to estimate the fraction of the potentially toxic element content that would be bioaccessible in the human gastro-intestinal tract following accidental ingestion of soil. Many of these procedures are complex, they have been applied to a very limited range ofsoils, and most work has focussed on arsenic and lead. In the present study, a simplified, two-stage extraction, simulating the human stomach and intestine, was developed and applied to urban soil samples from ten public-accessareas in the City of Torino, Italy. The human oral bioaccessibility of chromium, copper, nickel, lead and zinc was estimated. Lead and zinc bioaccessibilities were found to be higher in the stomach, but chromium was more bioaccessible in the intestine. Analyte concentrations were higher in roadside soils than in soils from parks. A higher proportion of the soil metal content was found in bioaccessible forms at roadsides than in parks. Comparison of the current findings with results of earlier work involving sequential extraction of the same soils indicated that the sequential procedure gave a relative, but not an absolute, indication of bioaccessibility. Calculations based on the bioaccessible analyte concentrations suggest that ingestion of only 2–3 g of some of the roadside soil samples from Torino could deliver the tolerable daily oral intake of chromium, nickel and lead to a 20-kg child. The developed procedure is useful for preliminary screening of soils and prediction of whether their bioaccessible metal contents are likely to pose a risk to human health

Use of a physiologically-based extraction test to estimate the human bioaccessibility of potentially toxic element in urban soils from the city of Glasgow, UK

A simple, two-stage, physiologically based extraction has been applied to assess the human bioaccessibility of potentially toxic elements (PTE) in 20 urban soils from a major UK city. Chromium and iron bioaccessibilities were found to be markedly higher in the intestinal phase, whilst lead and zinc bioaccessibilities were higher in the stomach. Copper and manganese bioaccessibilities were generally similar under both extraction conditions. Principal component analysis was used to study relationships amongst bioaccessible element concentrations and land use. Distinctions could be observed between the distributions of the urban metals— copper, lead and zinc—and metals predominantly of geogenic origin, such as iron. There was no clear delineation between roadside soils and soils obtained from public parks. Bioaccessible analyte concentrations were found to be correlated with pseudototal (aqua regia soluble) analyte concentrations for all elements except iron. Results of the BCR sequential extraction did not, in general, provide a good indication of human bioaccessibility. Comparison of bioaccessible PTE concentrations with toxicological data indicated that lead is the element of greatest concern in these soils but that levels are unlikely to pose a health risk to children with average soil intake

Application of ecological risk indicators for the assessment of Greek surficial sediments contaminated by toxic metals

Τhe present research investigates the partitioning of six selected toxic metals (Ni, Cr, Pb, Zn, Cu, and As) in eight sediment samples; half of them were collected from Elefsis Gulf, and the other half were taken from Koumoundourou Lake, Athens, Greece. Each one of them was treated by applying Tessier’s five-step sequential extraction procedure. Regarding gulf sediments, the results indicated that Cu exhibits a strong affinity to the organic matter with percentages ranging from 65 to 78 %. Considerable amount of Zn (32–40 %) is bound to the Fe-Mn fraction and the non-residual fraction, while Cr and Ni are bound to the organic fraction, an observation that suits all toxic metals examined. Regarding lake sediments, Pb is the predominant metal bound to Fe-Mn (48–51 %). It is also noteworthy that the percentage of Zn bound to carbonated fraction (5–15 %), indicating biological availability. In conclusion, the application of several ecological risk indicators demonstrated that Elefsis Gulf sediments correspond to a moderate pollution level, with Pb and Ni being less bioavailable than in the lake’s samples, in contrast to Zn which is more bioavailable. Finally, Koumoundourou Lakes’ basin is characterized of “low risk.