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Mercury contents in soils and sea sediments in Crete, Greece

Pentari Despoina, Perdikatsis Vasilis, Komnitsas Konstantinos, Despina Katsimicha, Asimina Moraiti, Vasilis Perdikatsis

Πλήρης Εγγραφή

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Περίληψη

Mercury has been listed among the most significant environmental pollutants. Obviously, the distinction between natural and non-natural Hg contributions as well as point and non-point sources of such contamination in atmosphere, aquatic and terrestrial environment is not always definite and absolute (Manta et al., 2002). What is more is that due to its volatility and chemical persistence, Hg can be involved in extensive air-soil exchange processes and once released to the atmosphere may be transported over long distances (Rodrigues et al., 2006). As a consequence, soils and sediments can be considered as very important pools acting both as source and sink in the global biogeochemical cycle of Hg (Xinmin et al., 2006).The aim of the present work was the detection of mercury contamination derived from human activities in local geochemical systems existed in different areas of Crete, Greece. For this purpose, 28 samples (surface soil and sea sediments) were obtained from regions considered both potentially contaminated and uncontaminated (natural background Hg levels). The mineralogy and the organic matter of the samples were defined by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Total Organic Carbon (TOC) analyses respectively. The contents in major elements were determined by X-Ray Fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF), while the contents of total Hg and trace elements were determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) after the dissolution of samples by acid treatment. Finally, the association between Hg and other elements was examined using the Linear Correlation Coefficients, while the Geoaccumulation Index (Igeo) and the Enrichment Factor (EF) were also calculated.The majority of the measured Hg concentrations of the samples did not exceed the environmental limit of 0.2 mg.kg-1 Hg recommended for soils in Greece and other European Community countries (UNEP, 2002). The findings of the present work are in accordance with previous observations in Greek soils (FOREGS, 2005). Despite this, research has to be continued and focused on localized Hg enrichments in order to determine all possible contamination sources, identify potential pathways and assess its fate.

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