Analysis of Effects of Pollution Due to Flooding
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Integrated Flood Risk Analysis and Management Methodologies Analysis of effects of pollution due to flooding Date March 2007 Report Number T22-07-02 Revision Number 1_1_P01 Deliverable Number: D22.1 Actual submission date: March 2007 Task Leader UFZ FLOODsite is co-funded by the European Community Sixth Framework Programme for European Research and Technological Development (2002-2006) FLOODsite is an Integrated Project in the Global Change and Eco-systems Sub-Priority Start date March 2004, duration 5 Years Document Dissemination Level PU Public PU PP Restricted to other programme participants (including the Commission Services) RE Restricted to a group specified by the consortium (including the Commission Services) CO Confidential, only for members of the consortium (including the Commission Services) Co-ordinator: HR Wallingford, UK Project Contract No: GOCE-CT-2004-505420 Project website: www.floodsite.net Analysis pollution D22.1 Contract No:GOCE-CT-2004-505420 DOCUMENT INFORMATION Title Analysis of effects of pollution due to flooding Lead Author UFZ Contributors Distribution Public Document Reference T22-07-02 DOCUMENT HISTORY Date Revision Prepared by Organisation Approved by Notes 20/03/07 1_0 UFZ UFZ 22/05/09 1_1_P01 J Rance HR Wallingford ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The work described in this publication was supported by the European Community’s Sixth Framework Programme through the grant to the budget of the Integrated Project FLOODsite, Contract GOCE-CT- 2004-505420. DISCLAIMER This document reflects only the authors’ views and not those of the European Community. This work may rely on data from sources external to members of the FLOODsite project Consortium. Members of the Consortium do not accept liability for loss or damage suffered by any third party as a result of errors or inaccuracies in such data. The information in this document is provided “as is” and no guarantee or warranty is given that the information is fit for any particular purpose. The user thereof uses the information at its sole risk and neither the European Community nor any member of the FLOODsite Consortium is liable for any use that may be made of the information. © Members of the FLOODsite Consortium T22_07_02_Analysis_pollution_D22_1_V1_1_P01 22 May 2009 ii Analysis pollution D22.1 Contract No:GOCE-CT-2004-505420 SUMMARY In early 2000, two major mining-related accidents occurred in the Maramureş County in Romania which caused the release of large amounts of cyanide and heavy metals into the rivers Szamos and Tisza (a major tributary of the Danube). The high concentrations of cyanides killed almost immediately more than 1,000 t of fish on the Hungarian side. Cyanides pose a short-term threat to the environment due to their degradability. In contrast, heavy metals deposit in the river catchment area and can accumulate in the food web due to their lack of degradability, which results in a long-term threat to the ecosystem and to humans. To assess the contamination, sediments were sampled along Szamos and Tisza in Hungary from 2000 to 2005. The aqua-regia soluble element contents and the bonding forms of selected elements were analyzed in the grain size fraction < 20 µm. Heavy metal concentrations in sediments were initially high at the Szamos (≤ 3,000 mg/kg Zn) and decreased with increasing distance from the mining accident (ca. 500 µg/g Zn in the middle section of the Tisza). In 2005, the trace element concentrations in the Szamos have decreased to a level slightly higher than in the Tisza. The concentration decline is probably caused by dilution with “uncontaminated” sediment, transport of contaminated substrate further downriver as well as transport out off the river onto the floodplains. Most of the sediment profiles do not reflect the mining accidents of the year 2000, which indicates a long history of heavy metal contamination in the Tisza catchment. Cluster analysis discriminates three sections of the research area: (1) Szamos, (2) middle Tisza and (3) lower Tisza. This pattern is based on the contamination level ranking from high to low. Over the observed years the element pattern changed only marginally: (1) Cd–Pb–Zn, (2) As–Cu, (3) Cr and (4) Co–Ni. Although the decrease of the sedimentary heavy metal concentration gives a positive impression regarding the sediment quality, potential sinks of the contaminants should be determined. Therefore further research is needed to assess the effect on floodplains, because they are due to their agricultural use integrated in the human food web. T22_07_02_Analysis_pollution_D22_1_V1_1_P01 22 May 2009 iii Analysis pollution D22.1 Contract No:GOCE-CT-2004-505420 T22_07_02_Analysis_pollution_D22_1_V1_1_P01 22 May 2009 iv Analysis pollution D22.1 Contract No:GOCE-CT-2004-505420 CONTENTS Document Information ii Document History ii Acknowledgement ii Disclaimer ii Summary iii Contents v 1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Motivation ........................................................................................................... 1 1.2 The accidents ....................................................................................................... 1 1.3 (Potential) Sources of pollution........................................................................... 1 2. Investigation area ............................................................................................................. 5 2.1 Tisza River........................................................................................................... 5 2.2 Overview of selected studies on the spills in 2000 in the investigation area....... 5 2.3 Szamos................................................................................................................. 6 2.4 Körös and Maros ................................................................................................. 6 3. Methods............................................................................................................................ 6 3.1 Sampling.............................................................................................................. 6 3.1.1 Sampling locations and conditions......................................................... 6 3.1.2 Sampling techniques (methods and depth)............................................. 8 3.2 Sample preparation and grain size fractionation.................................................. 9 3.3 Chemical analysis.............................................................................................. 10 3.3.1 Carbon analysis .................................................................................... 10 3.3.2 Aqua regia soluble element contents.................................................... 10 3.3.3 Sequential extraction............................................................................ 11 3.4 Data evaluation.................................................................................................. 12 4. Results ............................................................................................................................ 12 4.1 Sediment composition ....................................................................................... 12 4.2 Aqua regia soluble element content................................................................... 13 4.2.1 Comparison of aqua regia soluble element contents of the grain size fractions < 20 µm and < 1 mm............................................................. 13 4.2.2 Geogenic vs. anthropogenic proportions of the heavy metal load ....... 14 4.2.3 Temporal changes of the concentration of selected elements .............. 15 4.2.4 Comparison with legal values and guidelines for sediments and soils 30 4.3 Bonding form distributions of selected elements .............................................. 31 4.3.1 General remarks ................................................................................... 31 4.3.2 Major elements..................................................................................... 32 4.3.3 Trace elements ..................................................................................... 34 5. Discussion ......................................................................................................................41 5.1 t-Test.................................................................................................................. 41 5.2 Correlation analysis ........................................................................................... 41 5.3 Cluster analysis.................................................................................................. 45 5.3.1 Grouping of sampling locations based on As and selected heavy metals (Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn) for each sampling campaign (< 20 µm; Z-score) ............................................................................... 45 5.3.2 Grouping of heavy metals (Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn) and As for each year (< 20 µm; Z-score)............................................................... 46 5.4 Changes in heavy metal concentration .............................................................. 49 T22_07_02_Analysis_pollution_D22_1_V1_1_P01 22 May 2009 v Analysis pollution D22.1 Contract No:GOCE-CT-2004-505420 5.5 Changes in heavy metal bonding forms............................................................. 50 6. Conclusions ...................................................................................................................