Maps of heavy metals in the soils of the European Union and proposed priority areas for detailed assessment

• Published in: The Science of the total environment Vol. 565; pp. 1054 - 1062
• Main Authors: Tóth, Gergely, Hermann, Tamás, Szatmári, Gábor, Pásztor, László
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 15.09.2016
• Subjects: Arsenic - analysis; As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Pb, Zn, Sb, Co, Ni; Environmental Monitoring; European Union; Geographic Mapping; Maps as Topic; Metals, Heavy - analysis; Soil contamination; Soil Pollutants - analysis; Soil threats; ANE, Europe; As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Pb, Zn, Sb, Co, Ni; Soil threats; Soil contamination
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.05.115
• ISSN: 0048-9697

Soil contamination is one of the greatest concerns among the threats to soil resources in Europe and globally. Despite of its importance there was only very course scale (1/5000km2) data available on soil heavy metal concentrations prior to the LUCAS topsoil survey, which had a sampling density of 200km2. Based on the results of the LUCAS sampling and auxiliary information detailed and up-to-date maps of heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Pb, Zn, Sb, Co and Ni) in the topsoil of the European Union were produced. Using the maps of heavy metal concentration in topsoil we made a spatial prediction of areas where local assessment is suggested to monitor and eventually control the potential threat from heavy metals. Most of the examined elements remain under the corresponding threshold values in the majority of the land of the EU. However, one or more of the elements exceed the applied threshold concentration on 1.2Mkm2, which is 28.3% of the total surface area of the EU. While natural backgrounds might be the reason for high concentrations on large proportion of the affected soils, historical and recent industrial and mining areas show elevated concentrations (predominantly of As, Cd, Pb and Hg) too, indicating the magnitude of anthropogenic effect on soil quality in Europe. [Display omitted] •Detailed maps of heavy metals in the topsoil of the European Union are presented.•As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Pb, Zn, Sb, Co and Ni concentrations in European topsoil is mapped.•Priority areas where potential threat from heavy metals are high are delineated.•1.2Mkm2 or 28.3% of the total surface area of the EU is proposed for further assessment.•Historical and recent industrial and mining areas show elevated As, Cd, Pb and Hg levels.