title: Fate of hazardous elements in agricultural soils surrounding a coal power plant complex from Santa Catarina (Brazil).
abstract: Hazard element contamination coming from coal power plants is something obvious, but when this contamination is accompanied by other contamination sources, such as, urban, coal mining and farming activities the study gets complicated. This is the case of an area comprised in the southern part of Santa Catarina state (Brazil) with the largest private power plant generator. After the elemental analysis of 41 agricultural soils collected in an extensive area around the thermoelectric (from 0 to 47 km), the high presence of As, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Pb, Sb, Sn, Tl, V and Zn was found in some specific areas around the power plant. Nevertheless, as the NWAC (Normalized-and-Weighted Average Concentration) confirmed, only soils from one site were classified as of very high concern due to the presence of potential toxic elements. This site was located within the sedimentation basin of the power plant. The spatial distribution obtained by kriging in combination with the analysis of the data by Principal Component Analysis (PCA) revealed three important hotspots in the area according to soil uses and geographic localization: the thermoelectric, its area of influence due to volatile compound deposition, and the area comprised between two urban areas. Farming practice turn out to be an important factor too for the quantity of hazard element stored in soils.
authors.affiliation: Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU, P.O. Box 644, 48080 Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain.
authors.forename: Azibar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rodriguez-Iruretagoiena
authors.affiliation: Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU, P.O. Box 644, 48080 Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain. Electronic address: silvia.fernandez@ehu.es.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fdez-Ortiz de Vallejuelo
authors.affiliation: Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU, P.O. Box 644, 48080 Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain.
authors.forename: Ainara
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gredilla
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Environmental Researches and Nanotechnology Development, Centro Universitário La Salle, Mestrado em Avaliação de Impactos Ambientais em Mineração, Victor Barreto, 2288 Centro, 92010-000 Canoas, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Claudete G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Ramos
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Environmental Researches and Nanotechnology Development, Centro Universitário La Salle, Mestrado em Avaliação de Impactos Ambientais em Mineração, Victor Barreto, 2288 Centro, 92010-000 Canoas, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marcos L S
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.affiliation: Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU, P.O. Box 644, 48080 Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain.
authors.forename: Gorka
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Arana
authors.affiliation: Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU, P.O. Box 644, 48080 Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: de Diego
authors.affiliation: Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU, P.O. Box 644, 48080 Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain.
authors.forename: Juan Manuel
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Madariaga
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Environmental Researches and Nanotechnology Development, Centro Universitário La Salle, Mestrado em Avaliação de Impactos Ambientais em Mineração, Victor Barreto, 2288 Centro, 92010-000 Canoas, RS, Brazil. Electronic address: felipeqma@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Luis F O
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Silva
mesh_terms: D001938:Brazil; D003031:Coal; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D015386:Hazardous Substances / Q000032:analysis*; D011210:Power Plants; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry*; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D003031:Coal; D015386:Hazardous Substances; D012987:Soil; D012989:Soil Pollutants
keywords: Agricultural soil; Coal power plant; Element contamination; Hotspot identification; Principal Component Analysis; Spatial interpolation