Assessment of interactions between the soil-metal partitioning patterns and metal availability to plants,

•  Establish the relationships between the soil-metal partitioning patterns and metal availability to plants.

Specific objectives:

• Study design;
• Determination of metal partitioning patterns in soils with different pollution sources and levels;
• Identification of relationships between the soil-metal partitioning patterns and metal availability to plants;
• Disseminating the results.

       The project aims to evaluate several single and sequential extraction methods to determine the plant available metal fractions. The metal fraction extracted in the chosen reagents will be determined by ICP-AES and ICP-MS, while those from the residues, by X-Ray Fluorescence. The obtained soil-plant partitioning pattern of metals along with the metal contents of studied plant species will permit to elucidate aspects of the biogeochemical cycles of metals, to predict the risks of metal contamination in case of environmental conditions changes, to improve the knowledge about the environmental and health implications of soil pollution with metals. The experimental data will be also the basis for the development of a model to describe the relationships between the soil-metal partitioning patterns in soils with different pollution levels and pollution sources and, metal availability for plants.

• Report concerning the soil pollution sources and levels in the study areas;
• Report on the testing, optimization and validation of the extraction methods;
• Report on soil physical-chemical characteristics;
• Report on the metal-soil distribution patterns;
• Report on metal contents in plants;
• Report on soil to plant transfer factors;
• Model for relationship between soil-metal partitioning patterns and metal availability to plants;
• Articles published in scientific journals;
• Presentations at national and international conferences;
• Web page.

• Report concerning the pollution sources and levels in the study areas;
• Report on the testing, optimization and validation of the extraction methods;
• Web page.

• Sampling report;
• Chemical analysis report;
• Report on soil characteristics;
• Report on the metal-soil distribution patterns;
• 4 communications at national and international conferences;
• 1 published paper.

• Chemical analysis report on metal contents from plants;
• Report on soil to plant transfer factors;
• Model for relationship between soil-metal partitioning patterns and metal availability to plants;
• 2 presentations at international conferences;
• 3 published papers in peer-reviewed journals.

Results dissemination:

ISI papers

1. Erika Levei, Tiberiu Frentiu, Michaela Ponta, Claudiu Tanaselia, Gheorghe Borodi, Characterization and assessment of potential environmental risk of tailings stored in seven impoundments in the Aries river basin, western Romania, Chemistry Central Journal, 2013, 7:5, available here
2. Erika Levei, Marius Roman, Mirela Miclean, Gheorghe Borodi, Marin Senila, Acid mine drainage prediction for tailings in the Baia Mare and Southern Apuseni mining areas, Romania, Carpathian Journal of Earth And Environmental Sciences, 2013, 8(3), 167-174, available here
3. Erika Levei, Mirela Miclean, Marin Șenilă, Comparison of heating techniques used in wet acid digestion for the determination of metals from soil and plants, Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai, CHEMIA, 2012, 57(1), 103 – 109, available here
4. Erika Levei, Michaela Ponta, Marin Senila, Mirela Miclean, Gheorghe Borodi, Tiberiu Frentiu, Assessment of contamination and origin of metals in mining affected river sediments: a case study of Aries catchement, Romania, Journal of the Serbian Chemical Society, available here(doi:10.1186/1752-153X-7-5).

Conference presentations

1. E. Levei, M. Senila, C. Roman, C. Paizs, Use of single extractions for the assessment of metal mobility in mine tailings, 6th Black Sea Basin Conference on Analytical Chemistry (6BBCAC), Trabzon, Turkey, 10-14 September 2013.
2. Erika Levei, Marin Senila, Marius Roman, Mirela Miclean, Assessment of water and sediment contamination by mining activities in the Aries river, Romania, 14th EuCheMS International Conference on Chemistry and the Environment, ICCE 2013, Barcelona, June 25 – 28, 2013.
3. Erika Levei, Marin Senila, Marius Roman, Mirela Miclean, Claudiu Tanaselia, Csaba Paizs, Determinarea continutului de metale in Coada Calului (Equisetum spp.) crescuta pe halde de steril, 6th Workshop on Optoelectronic Techniques for Environmental Monitoring OTEM, 11-13 June 2013 Timisoara, Romania.
4. Erika Levei, Claudiu Tanaselia, Marius Roman, Bela Abraham, Maria Petean, Csaba Paizs, Acid rock drainage prediction for mine wastes from Baia Mare and Certej mining areas, International Conference „Environmental Legislation, Safety Engineering and Disaster Management” – ELSEDIMA, 9 th edition, 25-27 October 2012, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
5. Erika Levei, Marin Senila, Claudiu Tanaselia, Paizs Csaba, Determination of metals mobility in the mine tailings stored in Brăzești deposit, Romania, 32rd National Chemistry Conference, 3-5 October 2012 Calimănești-Căciulata, România.
6. Levei Erika, Senila Marin, Abraham Bela, Paizs Csaba, Influence of extraction time on the Pb dissolution in nonferrous mine tailings, The International Symposium on Analytical and Environmental Problems, with Special Emphasis on Heavy Metal Ions and Contaminants, 24 Septembrie 2012, Szeged, Hungary.
7. Erika Levei, Marin Senila, Mirela Miclean, Csaba Paizs, Study of metal partitioning patterns in contaminated soil using single selective extractions, International Symposium on Environmental Analytical Chemistry, ISEAC 22-25 May 2012, Antwerp, Belgia.

Scientific report, Stage 2

Scientific report, Stage 3