Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Heavy Metals Soil Pollution in Some Urban
Location from Romania
Radu Lacatusu and Anca-Rovena Lacatusu
Introduction
Urban soils derive from those natural pursuant to anthropogenic influence caused
by human settlement construction and their development. The transformation level
is directly proportional with urbanization process intensity, with its nature and civi-
lization degree reached by inhabitants. On the strength of these reasons, the urban
space will be separated in zones. In some zones the natural soil has been strongly
modified, sometimes removed as a consequence of civilian and industrial buildings,
urban equipment, and communication routes systems constructions. In other zones
the soil has been less modified, but has received and still is, receiving negative
impacts, caused by daily household or industrial activities. The soils belonging to
this category are soils from green spaces less modified by urbanism and soils from
gardens of peripheral and suburban areas denizens. At last, a final category is repre-
sented by soils from urban space integral keeping its natural character. These are
soils existing under the woods included in the urban space as parks along the time,
and soils that have been suffered an anthropogenic modification.
It is indubitable that the abundance of chemical elements in urban soils is a result
of geogenic abundance and anthropogenic influence. This is decisive for urban soils
properties modification, mainly those of chemicals, and can explain the large ampli-
tude of heavy metal content variations in urban soils
[1, 2]
.
Urban traffic of different vehicle types has a significant role not merely to air
pollution but also near the roads with heavy and congested automobile traffic soils
pollution. Many times the input of additional material utilized for streets construc-
tion has a major contribution to soil chemical composition change. The permanent
contribution on roadside soil chemical transformation is represented by emissions
during combustion of fuels, predominantly leaded gasoline, in vehicle engines.
R. Lacatusu
Al. I. Cuza University, Iassy
R. Lacatusu and A.-R. Lacatusu
National R&D Institute for Soil Science, Agrochemistry and Environment Protection Bucharest
