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Mapping risks associated with soil copper contamination using availability and bio-availability proxies at the
Laura Sereni1, Bertrand Guenet2, Isabelle Lamy3
1UMR 1402 ECOSYS, Ecotoxicology Team, Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, 78026, Versailles, AgroParisTech, France. laurasereni@yahoo.fr.
Environmental Science and Pollution Research International
|October 15, 2022
Summary
Copper (Cu) contamination impacts soil function. This study maps bio-available copper across Europe, revealing higher discrepancies than available copper, crucial for land use planning.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Science
- Soil Science
- Geochemistry
Background:
- Soil contamination by copper (Cu) affects soil functioning and ecosystem health.
- Current environmental policies rely on total soil Cu content, which is a poor indicator of mobility and bioavailability.
- Soil solution Cu and free Cu are better proxies for assessing Cu risks to soil organisms.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop European-scale maps of available and bio-available copper.
- To compare spatial discrepancies between total, available, and bio-available Cu.
- To identify high-risk areas for land use planning and environmental management.
Main Methods:
- Collected empirical equations from literature to estimate Cu in soil solution (available Cu) and free Cu (bio-available Cu) from total soil Cu and soil parameters.
- Applied these equations to create European maps of available and bio-available Cu.
- Compared median values of different Cu forms across Europe to identify risk areas.
Main Results:
- Generated European maps for available and bio-available Cu.
- Observed greater discrepancies between bio-available Cu maps and total Cu maps compared to available Cu maps.
- Identified specific regions with elevated risks based on Cu bioavailability.
Conclusions:
- Empirical equations can be scaled up to predict Cu availability across large regions.
- Bio-available Cu mapping reveals critical areas not apparent from total Cu measurements.
- Results support informed land use planning and environmental risk assessment for copper contamination.
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