Book with abstracts from the COST Action 0905 meeting in ... - UMB

STUDY OF HEAVY METALS AND METALLOIDS IN SOILS AND
CROP PRODUCTION IN THE REGION OF “ELATSITE-MED” AD
Rossitsa Petrova 1 , Stefan Shilev 2
1 Dept. of Soil science, University of Forestry, Sofia, E-mail: rpetrova_fri@yahoo.com,
Bulgaria
2
Dept. of Microbiology and environmental biotechnologies, Agricultural University –
Plovdiv,E-mail: stefan.shilev@au-plovdiv.bg, Bulgaria
Keywords: disturbed soil, food safety, heavy metals, risk assessment, vegetables
OBJECTIVES
The objectives of the present study were to evaluate the level of heavy metal contamination of
the soils of the municipality of Mirkovo in the region of „Elatsite-Med” AD and the risk of
growing vegetables on that territory.
METHODS
The vegetative and animal nutrients are direct source of toxic metals and metalloids for
humans. Representative plant and soil samples were taken according ISO 10381-1 and BSS
17.4.5.01-85 for analysis of heavy metals and arsenic. Sample preparation and analytical
measurements were made according standardized methods and AAS.
RESULTS
We determined that in the soils from studied region exist lack of vital nutrients and variation
of pH. Regarding the soils was found that the contamination with Pb is low, medium to high
for Cu and low for Cd. No presence of Zn, Ni or As was found. Important accumulation of Pb
and Cr were found in vegetables (pepper and cabbage).
CONCLUSIONS
The cultivation of food plants on low or medium contaminated soils could be an important risk
for humans and animals. There is a necessity of recultivation on this territory in order to
diminish such risk.