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Thallium in soils and stream sediments of a Zn-Pb mining and smelting area
Jozef Lis1, Anna Pasieczna, Bozena Karbowska
1Polish Geological Institute, Warsaw, Poland.
Abstract:
Thallium was determined in 120 samples of soil and 30 samples of stream sediments from the southeastern part of the Silesian-Cracowian zinc-lead ore deposits. Soil samples were taken from topsoils (0.0-0.2 m) and bottom soils (0.8 and 1.0 m). Thallium was determined by flow-injection-differential-pulse anodic stripping voltammetry. The samples were decomposed sequentially with 73% hydrofluoric acid and a mixture of nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide. The results showed that zinc-lead ore mining as well as their processing and smelting leads to a significant increase of thallium in the top layer of soil and in stream sediments. The highest recorded concentration was 150 ppm Tl for stream sediment and 35 ppm for a soil sample. Thallium concentration in small rivers from the investigated area was by 2 orders of magnitude higher than in the reference area. The highest recorded concentration being 3.24 microg L(-1).
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