A COMPLEMENTARY RISK STUDY IN A CATTLE MANURE APPLICATION SCENARIO BY AN ENVIRONMENTAL RISK ASSESSMENT MULTICOMPARTMENT MODEL AND THE NEMERO SYNTHESIS INDEX
The application of organic wastes that may contain different pollutants, like heavy metals among others, is awaking a major concern about soil contamination in rural zones. Thus, it is necessary to adopt methodologies that can evaluate the potential level of soil pollution, in order to protect the human health. The aim of this study was to analyze two different methodologies used to assess the adequacy (in terms of metal accumulation risk) of applying cattle manure as fertilizer in a specific land plot for the production of pastureland and agricultural crops. The metals considered in this study were Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn. The applied methodologies were an Environmental Risk Assessment (ERA) multicompartment model based on US-EPA guidelines, and the Nemero Synthesis Index. For the former, the incremental risk was estimated for the population inhabiting the surroundings of the area of study, taking into account five exposure pathways. Meanwhile, for the latter, the maps of the distribution of pollution risk were obtained by kriging interpolation and the pollution distribution was graded into five categories. Both methodologies are complementary, since the Nemero Synthesis Index only evaluates the level of pollution in each sample of soil and compares it to local background levels. Besides metal concentration in soil, the multicompartment model considers levels of toxicity in humans. The results of the ERA multicompartment model showed that, among all the heavy metals considered, Zn and Ni were the most problematic in the area of study. The same results were obtained with the Nemero Synthesis Index, which identified Zn and Ni as the major contributors to low and moderate pollution grade in certain locations.
risk assessment heavy metals cattle manure pastureland
C. LOPES M. HERVA A. FRANCO E. ROCA
Dept. of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Santiago de Compostela Campus Su Dept. of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Santiago de Compostela Campus Su
国际会议
北京
英文
597-602
2010-05-17（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）