With rapidly urbanizing societies, waste management needs attention. In 2008, EUs Waste Framework Directive (WFD) set new concepts, like reducing usage of natural materials. Thus, the interest for alternative materials increased. In Skellefteå, since the 1970’s, iron sand has often substituted natural gravel in road construction. But, today stricter regulations might forbid iron sand for further use. The issue is whether leachate from iron sand causes heavy metal pollution or not. This thesis tried to provide more knowledge into iron sand’s environmental impact. In order to investigate this, a sediment sample (<53 cm deep) collected in Inre-viken, a lake 50m from a road with iron sand, were analyzed for Zn, Pb and Cu concentrations. Enrichment factor (EF), national benchmarks, and reference data were used to evaluate anthropogenic impact and age-determine the sediment. The results showed: (1) Inre-viken has elevated heavy metal levels compared to pre-industrial levels, with highest Cu (133 mg/kg) and Zn(204 mg/kg) concentrations found in the surface layer. (2) Zn and Cu showed an increase between 41-0 cm depth (1970-2015), but only Cu reaches high concentrations, while Zn and Pb range between low to very low concentrations. (3) The metal enrichment is low compared to the reference lake. The findings show that there are elevated levels in Inre-viken compared to pre-industrial levels. However, identifying the main source of pollution is difficult, because many pollution sources exist in the area. To determine if iron sand is the culprit, further studies are necessary.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:umu-105718 |
| Date | January 2015 |
| Creators | Rikard, Haldebo |
| Publisher | Umeå universitet, Institutionen för ekologi, miljö och geovetenskap |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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