Historical records and contamination assessment of potential toxic elements (PTEs) over the past 100 years in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard

Zhongkang Yang; Linxi Yuan; Zhouqing Xie; Jun Wang; Zhaolei Li; Luyao Tu; Liguang Sun

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2020.115205

Historical records and contamination assessment of potential toxic elements (PTEs) over the past 100 years in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard

Environ Pollut. 2020 Nov;266(Pt 1):115205. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2020.115205. Epub 2020 Jul 10.

Authors

Zhongkang Yang¹, Linxi Yuan², Zhouqing Xie³, Jun Wang⁴, Zhaolei Li⁴, Luyao Tu⁵, Liguang Sun⁶

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Polar Environment & Anhui Key Laboratory of Polar Environment and Global Change, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China; College of Resources and Environment, Key Laboratory of Agricultural Environment in Universities of Shandong, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai'an, 271000, China.
² Department of Health and Environmental Sciences, Xi'an Jiaotong -Liverpool University, Suzhou, 215123, China.
³ Institute of Polar Environment & Anhui Key Laboratory of Polar Environment and Global Change, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China.
⁴ College of Resources and Environment, Key Laboratory of Agricultural Environment in Universities of Shandong, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai'an, 271000, China.
⁵ Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research and Institute of Geography, University of Bern, Switzerland.
⁶ Institute of Polar Environment & Anhui Key Laboratory of Polar Environment and Global Change, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China. Electronic address: slg@ustc.edu.cn.

PMID: 32707354
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2020.115205

Abstract

Ny-Ålesund has been significantly impacted by anthropogenic activities (e.g. coal mining, scientific research, tourist shipping) over the past 100 years. However, the studies of potential toxic elements (PTEs) contamination in Ny-Ålesund currently mainly focus on surface soil or surface fjord sediments, and little is known about the history and status of PTEs contamination over the past 100 years. In this study, we collected a palaeo-notch sediment profile YN, analyzed the contents of six typical PTEs (Cu, Pb, Cd, Hg, As, Se) in the sediments, and assessed the historical pollution status in Ny-Ålesund using the pollution load index, geo-accumulation index and enrichment factor. The results showed that the contents of PTEs over the past 100 years increased rapidly compared with those during the interval of 9400-100 BP. In addition, Pb, Cd and Hg showed a clear signal of enrichment and were the main polluters among the PTEs analyzed. The contamination was likely linked to gas-oil powered generators, coal mining, research station, tourist shipping and long-range transport of pollutants.

Keywords: Anthropogenic activities; Assessment; Contamination; Ny-Ålesund; Potential toxic elements.

MeSH terms

Environmental Monitoring
Metals, Heavy / analysis*
Risk Assessment
Soil
Soil Pollutants / analysis*
Svalbard

Substances

Metals, Heavy
Soil
Soil Pollutants