RT Journal Article
T1 Mercury distribution in plants and soils from the former mining area of Abbadia San Salvatore (Tuscany, Central Italy)
A1 Meloni, Federica
A1 Farieri, Alessandro
A1 Higueras, Pablo
A1 Esbrí Víctor, José María
A1 Nisi, Barbara
A1 Cabassi, Jacopo
A1 Rappuoli, Daniele
A1 Vaselli, Orlando
AB The distribution of heavy metals in plants (Castanea sativa, Sambucus nigra, Verbascum thapsus, Popolus spp., Salix spp., Acer pseudoplatanus, Robinia pseudoacacia) growing in soils from active and abandoned mining areas is of scientific significance as it allows to recognize their ability to survive in a hostile environment and provide useful indications for phytoremediation operations. In this work, soils from the former Hg-mining area of Abbadia San Salvatore (Tuscany, Central Italy) were analyzed for total, leached Hg, % of organic and inorganic-related Hg. The dehydrogenase enzyme activity (DHA) was also measured with the aim to evaluate the status of the soil, being characterized by high Hg contents (up to 1068 mg kg−1). Eventually, the concentration of Hg in the different parts of the plants growing on these soils was also determined. Most studied soils were dominated by inorganic Hg (up to 92%) while the DHA concentrations were < 151 µg TPF g−1 day−1, suggesting that the presence of Hg is not significantly affecting the enzymatic soil activity. This is also supported by the bioaccumulation factor (BF), being predominantly characterized by values < 1. Sambucus nigra and Verbascum thapsus had the highest Hg contents (39.42 and 54.54 mg kg−1, respectively). The plant leaves appear to be the main pathways of Hg uptake, as also observed in other mining areas, e.g., Almadèn (Spain), indicating that particulate-Hg and Hg0 are the main forms entering the plant system, the latter derived by the GEM emitted by both the edifices hosting the roasting furnaces and the soils themselves.
PB Springer
SN 0269-4042
YR 2023
FD 2023
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/101447
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/101447
LA eng
NO Meloni, Federica, et al. «Mercury Distribution in Plants and Soils from the Former Mining Area of Abbadia San Salvatore (Tuscany, Central Italy)». Environmental Geochemistry and Health, vol. 45, n.o 11, noviembre de 2023, pp. 8523-38. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-023-01739-w.
NO Università degli Studi di Firenze
DS Docta Complutense
RD 25 abr 2025