Vanadium - Toxicology of Metals - page 885

1998). There are indications that current vanadium con-
centrations in urban locations are lower now than they
were in the 1960s and 1970s when less refi ned crude
oils were used. The concentrations reported varied
with location: from 1-15 ng V/m 3 on the West Coast
of the United States to 10-40 ng/m 3 in the urban cites
on the East Coast. Recent data from rural sites showed
vanadium concentrations from 0.3-5 ng/m 3 , with a
typical value in most locations of approximately 1 ng
V/m 3 . A mean concentration of 0.72 ng V/m 3 has been
reported from rural Northwest Canada (Pyrzynska
and Wierzbicki, 2004).
It is diffi cult to calculate any health risks from these
data, because they are based on different methods of
sampling time and analysis, and the samples vary from
fi ne particles (<2.5

crude oils, better fl ue gas cleaning, and closing of old
industrial plants.

4.1.4 Water

The concentrations of vanadium in water depend
largely on the geographical location (Hamada, 1998).
Surface fresh water normally contains < 3 g V/L.

Much higher levels have been reported in drinking
water from volcanic areas (e.g., 50-130

µ

g/L around
Mount Etna) (Tamasi and Cini 2004). Typical values
of vanadium concentrations in drinking water are
below the detection limit, 1

µ

g/L (IPCS, 1988). When
detected, the concentration usually is 1-6

µ

µ g/L, with

a maximum of 20 g/L (Barceloux, 1999; IPCS, 1988).

Recently, results from a drinking water survey were
reported from Tuscany in Italy (Tamasi and Cini,
2004). The vanadium levels varied from 0.3-1.8

µ

m [PM 2.5 ] to total suspended par-
ticulates [TSP]). Earlier, it was estimated that approxi-
mately 1

µ

g/L
in half of the samples and were below the detection
limits in the remaining. Concentrations in bottled
mineral water in Canada and in Japan were reported
to be low and well within drinking water guidelines
(Dabeka et al ., 2002; Suzuki et al ., 2000). The aver-
age concentrations of vanadium in seawater were
low (i.e., 0.1-2

µ

g of vanadium could enter the respiratory
tract per day if air concentrations were assumed to be
about 50 ng/m 3 (Byrne and Kosta, 1978). In the past
15 years, new information on the ambient levels and
chemical composition of airborne particles has been
published: this information will enhance the estima-
tions of exposure (Mamane and Pirrone, 1998). For
instance, in Chicago, PM 2.5 levels were 0.7 ± 1.8 and
those of PM 2.5-10 were 1.9 ± 22.2 ng/m 3 , respectively,
during June-July 1991. TSP and PM 10 (particles with
an aerodynamic diameter <10

µ

g/L) (Bengtsson and Tyler, 1976). In
a recent review on seawater, vanadium in the open
ocean was measured between 1-3

µ

µ g V/L (Miramand

and Fowler, 1998).

m) were collected in
Pavia in Northern Italy during 1999 and analyzed for
different trace metals including vanadium with INNA
or ETAAS (Rizzio et al ., 2001). Mean vanadium concen-
trations (ETAAS) of PM 10 were 5.6 ng/m 3 during the
summer and 18.8 ng/m 3 during the winter.

µ

4.1.5 Soil

Vanadium is widely distributed in the earth's crust
as different vanadates of other compounds (Mamane
and Pirrone, 1998). Vanadium concentrations in soils,
reported by several authors, vary between approxi-
mately 5 and 140 mg/kg and may reach very high val-
ues (i.e., up to 400 mg/kg) when the soils are polluted
by fl y ash (Bengtsson and Tyler, 1976). Basic slug, a by-
product from the steel industry, has been widely used
as a fertilizer because of its high content of calcium
oxide and phophate. However, it also contains impuri-
ties, including vanadium. In an incident with basic slag
contaminated with 3% vanadium that was applied to
a pasture, a herd of cattle was poisoned (Frank et al .,
1996).
Vanadium levels in soils depend on the contents in
the underlying mineral, but there may also be a trans-
port from urban and industrial areas. Higher levels of
vanadium in topsoil in areas with higher population
density have been reported in the Nordic countries
(Steinnes and Rühling, 2002). For instance, concentra-
tions were <4

4.1.3 Mosses

Since the 1970s, atmospheric trace metal deposi-
tion is regularly monitored through moss analysis in
Scandinavia and several other European countries
(Rühling, 1994; Rühling and Steinness, 1998). During a
1995-1996 survey, the mean/median background con-
centrations of vanadium varied from 1.1 dry weight
in Ukraine to <2 µ g/g in northern Scandinavia and

3.0 g/g

dry weight, were found around local point sources
like coal and oil boiling power plants and refi neries in
Lithuania. The Kaliningrad area also had high levels
(i.e., >30

µ g/g in Italy. The highest levels, up to 42 µ

g/g). A clear pattern of long-range trans-
port and transboundary pollution was seen in many
countries. There has been a general decrease in the
moss concentrations of vanadium (and nickel) that are
typical constituents of crude oil in Western Europe and
in the former East Germany (DDR) since 1985. This is
mainly because of better control legislation, less use of

µ

µ g V/g dry weight in Northern Sweden

and >15 µ g/g in the coastal regions in the Southeast and

West.