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Trace Metal Contamination of Soils and Sediments in the Port Kembla Area, New South Wales, Australia

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Trace Metal Contamination of Soils and Sediments in the Port Kembla Area, New South Wales, Australia University of Wollongong Thesis Collections University of Wollongong Thesis Collection University of Wollongong Year 2009 Trace metal contamination of soils and sediments in the Port Kembla area, New South Wales, Australia Yasaman Jafari University of Wollongong Jafari, Yasaman, Trace metal contamination of soils and sediments in the Port Kem- bla area, New South Wales, Australia, Master of Environmental Science - Research thesis, School of Earth & Environmental Sciences - Faculty of Science, University of Wollongong, 2009. http://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/3133 This paper is posted at Research Online. Chapter 5 Discussion This chapter discusses the results of the current study including the grain size and total metal concentration analysis of soil and sediment samples from the Port Kembla area, the extractable concentrations of trace elements in these soils, as well as a comprehensive comparison of these results to previous world-wide studies. 5.1 Sources and Amounts of Trace Metals in Soils and Sediments of the Port Kembla Area. Studies by Beavington (1973), Ellis and Kanamori (1977), Crisp (1981, 1982) and Chenhall et al. (1994) have concluded that the main sources of trace metal contaminants found in Port Kembla area and Lake Illawarra are industrial discharges, atmospheric depositions of particulate matter especially within a distance of < 4 km from the Port Kembla copper smelter stack (Martley et al., 2004), leaching of soils and other terrestrial deposits, urban pollution, runoff from roads and freeways, and natural weathering of the surrounding rocks. Considering industrial particulate matter, it is believed that recent and historically deposited industrially derived trace metals play a major role in trace metal loading in soils and sediments of the area. Crisp (1981) listed three possible sources responsible for pollution of the area. Steelmaking: most iron and nickel with some zinc and lead; Coking: sintering and storage of coke and particulate dust; and Copper smelting: copper, zinc, lead, selenium, arsenic and antimony. According to Pacheco (1999), significant sources of pollution in the Illawarra, are ERS/Southern Copper/Port Kembla Copper (started 1910), BHP Steel/BlueScope Steel (started 1928), Tallawarra Power Station (1954-1989), Kanahooka smelter and three coke works. These pollutant sources, together with urban and automobile contaminants, especially leaded petrol, could have affected the Illawarra. Chiardia et al. (1997) used lead isotopes to identify the historical lead pollution in roof dusts and lagoon sediments of the Illawarra region and found that each of the major sources listed above added to the total pollutant load in the region. Moreover, atmospheric pollution is largely dependant on the 113 prevailing wind, which blows from the west and southwest in winter and from the northeast and south in summer. The extent to which these sources are contributing to trace metal contamination in soils and sediments of the study area will be discussed in this chapter. 5.1.1 Significant Pollutants in Soil Samples Copper, Zinc, Lead and Arsenic distribution: The distribution of Cu concentrations in the soil samples (Figure 4.3) shows significant concentrations of Cu centred upon the Port Kembla copper smelter stack. According to XRF results (Appendix 3) and Figure 4.4 (b), the average value of Cu found in the soil samples of the area is 324 ppm, with a minimum of 39 ppm, maximum of 1636 ppm and a mean enrichment factor of 2. Anomalous samples S58, S33 and S34 have been omitted due to their location in slag dumps (as determined by observation during sampling). Values decrease on moving farther from the stack with the lowest values of Cu observed in the south-western parts of the study area due to their distance from the copper smelter. In agreement with previous studies (e.g., Beavington, 1973, 1975; Martley et al., 2004), the main source of Cu in the Port Kembla Industrial area has been the copper smelter. High levels of extractable Cu were also found within a 1 km radius of the heavy metal smelting plant. It is likely that fine particles blown from copper ore stockpiles contribute considerably to these high levels. Based on the results of Kachenko and Singh (2006), positive linear correlations exist between soil Cu, cation exchange capacity (CEC) and organic carbon, indicating the binding of soil Cu is higher in organic/mineral soils which may lead to greater retention of Cu in the topsoils. Thus, it is believed that the smelter plant at Port Kembla is a probable point of Cu contamination in the region. Minor Cu contaminations would also come from urban pollution, vehicles and other industries. Figure 4.5 (a) illustrates the Zn distribution in soil samples from the study area and shows a similar trend to Cu. High values of Zn are found in samples in a similar 1000 m diameter around the copper smelter stack. Based on the XRF results (Appendix 3), Zn values in the samples tested ranged from 69 ppm to 1217 ppm (Figure 4.6(a)), with the mean value of 358 ppm (with the exception of sample S58 at a value of about 2833 ppm because of its location in a slag dump). The enrichment factor for Zn is 5 (Table 4.3). Ellis and Kanamori 114 (1977) listed steel manufacturing as a source of Zn, whereas Crisp (1981) determined that the copper smelter was the main source of Zn in the area. There are two exceptionally high levels of Zn in samples S3 and S4 even though these samples are from places where lower values might be expected; contamination from sources other than atmospheric fallout is likely. The Zn contents in western part of the study area are also higher than for Cu and Pb; Ellis and Kanamori (1977) suggested that Zn is more volatile than Cu thus, are more likely to enter the atmosphere in fume, so when Zn is released in the form of finely divided particles, it is more likely to be dispersed farther. Kachenko and Singh (2006) observed high levels of Zn in the Port Kembla area ranging between 87 to 1947 ppm while 69% of soils were over the ecological investigation levels (200 ppm). Cartwright et al. (1976) found similar levels of Zn (2-1500 ppm) in areas surrounding a smelter plant in Port Pirie, South Australia. Both studies support the idea of significant levels of anthropogenic pollution resulting from smelters in the vicinity of sampling sites. Also like Cu, there is notable positive correlation between Zn and organic carbon indicating the retention of Zn in soils with high organic matter content such as higher Zn accumulation in topsoils (Kachenko and Singh, 2006). The geographic distribution of Pb in the study area (Figure 4.5 (b)) shows the highest concentrations of Pb within a distance of about 1000 m around the Port Kembla copper smelter stack. As can be seen from the XRF results (Appendix 3) and Figure 4.6 (b), Pb values in soils of the study area show a maximum of 506 ppm and a minimum of 12 ppm, with the average value of 115 ppm. They exceed background levels by about 5, but the western area generally contains < 50 ppm of Pb. Similar anomalies appear for Pb as they did in the Cu distribution with the highest values for sample S58 of 4157 ppm which is located in a slag dump, and samples S33 and S34 due to their proximity to the stack. The high concentration of Pb in sample S47 is due to importation of contaminated materials (probably copper slag) for construction of coastal defences above the local basalt bedrock. Figure 4.5 (b) shows that a larger part of the study area contains high values of Pb relative to Cu suggesting that the former has a more widespread and uniform distribution than the later. Relatively low levels of Pb occur in the western parts of the area as they are farthest from the effects of the Industrial Complex. 115 Again according to previous studies (Chiaradia et al., 1997; Chenhall, pers. comm., 2009) the major sources of Pb in the area are the Port Kembla Industrial Complex, including sinter plant and blast furnace of the steelworks, and urbanization since most of the samples containing higher Pb values came from the industrial part of the area and roadsides. There is one exceptionally high level of Pb in sample S24 despite its distance from the stack; this probably represents another example of contamination by slag used as fill in an area adjacent to the urban environment in Flagstaff Road. Also according to Chiaradia et al. (1997) isotopic modelling of Pb suggests that the roof dusts of the area contain Pb associated with the copper smelter, gasoline-air lead and to lesser extent coal-utilizing sources. The results of this study are in agreement with the study by Kachenko and Singh (2006) in the Port Kembla area and Merry and Tiller (1978) who found elevated levels of Pb at about 258 ppm in soils in the vicinity of Pb and Zn smelters at Port Pirie in South Australia. This suggests that anthropogenic pollution is associated with the smelting industries in the area. Figure 4.5 (c) depicts the distribution pattern of As in the study area. It shows a similar form to Cu, Zn and Pb with significant values in samples close to the Port Kembla copper smelter stack. From the XRF results (Appendix 3) and Figure 4.6 (c), the As values in soil samples ranged between 27 ppm to 2 ppm with the average of 9 ppm, being elevated above background values by a factor of 8. The exceptions are for sample S58 due to its location in slag dump and sample S47 which is probably related to imported slag lying above the basalt.
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