J. AGUILAR, P. BOUZA, C. DORRONSORO, E. FERNÁNDEZ, J. FERNÁNDEZ, I. GARCÍA, F. MARTÍN, I. ORTIZ y M. SIMÓN

Dpto. Edafología y Química Agrícola, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Granada. Campus Fuentenueva s/n, 18002, Granada, España.

 

Abstract. Soil pollution has been studied after the spill of the Aznalcollar´s mine (As, Zn, Cd, Cu y Pb) between July 1998 and December 2001, both in total concentrations, as in soluble and bioavailable elements. The main remediation measures realized in that period were: Cleaning-up of the tailings and polluted soils, and application of amendment materials (liming). The results indicate that, after three years, between 50 –- 70% of the acidic soils and 25 –- 30% of the basic soils are still highly polluted in total arsenic. Only in the saline soils (sector 5) the pollution of this element affect to less than 10% of these areas. In relation to the soluble-in-water arsenic, the limit of 0,04 mg kg-1 is exceeded in the 15 –- 20% of all soils, with the exception of the saline soils. The EDTA-extractable arsenic (bioavailable) exceed the limit of 2 mg kg-1 only in the acidic sectors (1 and 2).

Key words: Aznalcollar, soil pollution, heavy metals, solubility, bioavailability.