Abstract
The concentrations of heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb andZn) and arsenic (As) were surveyed and the metal pools estimatedin soils in Stockholm Municipality. The sampling sites were distributed all over the entire municipality with a higher sampling density in the city centre. Soils were sampled to a maximum depth of 25 to 60 cm. Soil texture, total-C content, electrical conductivity and pH were analysed. Heavy metal concentrations were determined after wet digestion with boiling7 M HNO3.The results showed a wide range in heavy metal concentrations, as well as in other soil properties. The city centre soils constituted a rather homogeneous group whereas outside this areano geographical zones could be distinguished. These soils were grouped based on present land use, i.e. undisturbed soils, public parks, wasteland (mainly former industrial areas), and roadside soils. The city centre and wasteland soils generally hadenhanced heavy metal concentrations to at least 30 cm depth compared to park soils outside the city centre and rural (arable)soils in the region, which were used to estimate background levels. For example, the mean Hg concentration was 0.9 (max 3.3)mg kg-1 soil at 0–5 cm and 1.0 (max 2.9) at 30 cm depth in the city centre soils, while the background level was 0,04 mg kg-1. Corresponding values for Pb were 104 (max 444) and135 (max 339) mg kg-1, at 0–5 and 30 cm, respectively, while the background level was 17 mg kg-1.The average soil pools (0–30 cm depth) of Cu, Pb and Zn were 21,38 and 58 g m-2 respectively, which for Pb was 3–4 timeshigher and for Cu and Zn 1.5–2 times higher than the backgroundlevel. The total amount of accumulated metals (down to 30 cm)in the city centre soils (4.5*10 6 m2 public gardens and green areas) was estimated at 80, 1.1, 120 and 40 t for Cu, Hg, Pb and Zn, respectively. The study showed (1) thatfrom a metal contamination point of view, more homogeneous soilgroups were obtained based on present land use than on geographicdistance to the city centre, (2) the importance of establishing a background level in order to quantify the degree of contamination, and (3) soil samples has to be taken below the surface layer (and deeper than 30 cm) in order to quantify theaccumulated metal pools in urban soils.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Andersson, A.: 1977, Heavy Metals in Swedish Soils: On their Retention, Distribution and Amounts, Swedish J. Agric. Res. 7, 7–20.
Berglund, M., Fahlgren, L., Freland, M. and Vahter, M.: 1994, Metaller i mark i Stockholms innerstad och kranskommuner–förekomst and hälsorisker för barn. IMM-rapport 2/94 Karolinska institutet, Stockholm, p. 48 (in Swedish).
Bergbäck, B.: 1998, Metaller i Stockholm. Kunskapssammanställningar av metallflöden via olika verksamheter i Stockholm, Naturvårdsverket, Rapport 4952 (in Swedish).
Craul, P. J.: 1985, A Description of Urban Soils and heir desired characteristic, Journal of Arboriculture 11(11), 330–339.
Culbart, E. B., Thorton I., Watt J., Wheatley, S., Moorcroft, S. and Thompson, M.: 1988, Metal contamination in British Dusts and Soils, J. Environ. Qual. 17, 226–234.
Eriksson, J., Andersson, A. and Andersson, R.: 1997, Current status of Swedish Arable Soil,, Naturvårdsverket, Rapport 4778, p. 59 (in Swedish with English Summary).
Eriksson, J., Andersson, A. and Andersson, R.: 1999, Texture of Agricultural Topsoils in Sweden, Naturvårdsverket, Rapport 4955, p. 26 (in Swedish with English Summary).
International Organization of Standardization: 1995, Soil quality —Determination of carbonate content —Volumetric method. International Organization of Standardization ISO 10 693.
Hollis, J. M.: 1991, The classification of soils in urban areas, in P. Bullock and P. J. Gregory (eds), Soils in the Urban Environment, Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, p. 1–4.
Paterson, E., Sanka, M. and Clark, L.: 1996, Urban soils as pollutant sinks — a case study from Aberdeen, Scotland, Applied Geochemistry 11, 129–131.
Ross, S.: 1994, Sources and Forms of Potentially Toxic Metals in Soil-Plant Systems, in Ross, S. (ed.), Toxic Metals in Soil-Plant Systems, John Wiley and Sons Ltd, Chichester, p. 3–25.
Swedish Standards Institute: 1997, Soil analysis —Determination of trace elements in soils —Extraction with nitric acid. Swedish Standards Institute SS 02 83 11 (in Swedish).
Standardiseringskommissionen i Sverige: 1994, Markundersökningar–Bestämning av pH. Standardiseringskommissionen i Sverige SS-ISO 10390 (in Swedish).
Sternbeck, J. and Östlund P.: 2001, Metals in sediments from the Stockholm region: Geographical pollution patterns and time trends, Water, Air and Soil Pollution: Focus 1(3–4), 151–165.
SYSTAT for Windows: 1996, Statistics, Version 6.0.1 (ed.) Evanstone, IL: SYSTAT, Inc.
Sörme, L., Berbäck B. and Lohm U.: 2001, Goods in the anthroposphere as a metal emission source-a case study of Stockholm, Sweden, Water, Air and Soil Pollution 1(3–4), 213–228.
Thornton, I.: 1991, Metal contamination of soils in urban areas, in P. Bullock and P. J. Gregory (eds), Soils in the Urban Environment, Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, p. 47–75.
Van Reeuwijk, L. P. (ed.): 1993, Procedures of Soil Analysis. 4th (ed.) International Soil Reference and Information Centre, Technical paper no. 9.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Linde, M., Bengtsson, H. & Öborn, I. Concentrations and Pools of Heavy Metals in Urban Soils in Stockholm, Sweden. Water, Air, & Soil Pollution: Focus 1, 83–101 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1017599920280
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1017599920280