title: Bioavailability and health risk assessment of potentially toxic elements in Thriasio Plain, near Athens, Greece.
abstract: Elevated concentrations of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) are usually found in areas of intense industrial activity. Thriasio Plain is a plain near Athens, Greece, where most of the heavy industry of the country has been situated for decades, but it also is a residential and horticultural area. We aimed at measuring the levels of PTEs in soils and indigenous plant species and assessing the health risk associated with direct soil ingestion. Samples of soils at roadsides and growing plants were collected from 31 sites of that area. Concentrations of Al, As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, V and Zn were measured in both soils (as pseudo-total) and aerial plant tissues. We found that As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn were higher than maximum regulatory limits. Element concentrations in plants were rather lower than expected, probably because indigenous plants have developed excluder behaviour over time. Copper and Zn soil-to-plant coefficients were highest among the other elements; for Cu this was unexpected, and probably associated with recent Cu-releasing industrial activity. Risk assessment analysis indicated that As was the element contributing more than 50 % of the health risk related to direct soil ingestion, followed by Cr, Pb, and, surprisingly, Mn. We concluded that in a multi-element contamination situation, elevated risk of PTEs (such as As, Cr and Pb) may reduce the tolerance limits of exposure to less-toxic elements (here, Mn).
authors.affiliation: School of Agriculture, University of Thessaly, Fytokou Street, 384 46, Vólos, Greece. vasilisrev@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Vasileios
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Antoniadis
authors.affiliation: School of Agriculture, University of Thessaly, Fytokou Street, 384 46, Vólos, Greece.
authors.forename: Evangelia E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Golia
authors.affiliation: Department of Soil and Water Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Kafrelsheikh, Kafr El-Sheikh, 33 516, Egypt.
authors.forename: Sabry M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Shaheen
authors.affiliation: Soil- and Groundwater-Management, University of Wuppertal, Pauluskirchstraße 7, 42285, Wuppertal, Germany.
authors.forename: Jörg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rinklebe
mesh_terms: D001682:Biological Availability; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D006115:Greece; D006801:Humans; D007221:Industry; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000032:analysis / Q000493:pharmacokinetics* / Q000633:toxicity; D010944:Plants / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D011634:Public Health; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics* / Q000633:toxicity
chemical_list: D019216:Metals, Heavy; D012989:Soil Pollutants
keywords: Contamination pathways; Hazard quotient; Toxic substances; Transfer coefficient