EXPOSURE ASSESSMENT OF NATURALLY METAL ENRICHED TOPSOILS, PORT MACQUARIE, AUSTRALIA

摘要

An exposure assessment was conducted on naturally metal enriched topsoils of the city of Port Macquarie in order to establish whether the soils pose any threat to human health. Surface soils (0-10 cm depth, <2 mm) were investigated for their total, bioavailable and leachable Cr and Ni concentrations. Total metal concentrations ranged from 145 to 4540 mg Cr kg~(-1) and 20 to 2030 mg Ni kg~(-1) whereas soil extractions revealed low leachable contaminant concentrations (EDTA extrac- tion: < 0.1-0.2 mg Cr L~(-1) and < 0.1-4.7 mg Ni L~(-1); acetic acid extraction: < 0.1 mg L~(-1) Cr and Ni).