Authors
Andrea Lee Hinwood, Pierre Horwitz, Steve Appleyard, Caroline Barton, Magda Wajrak
Publication date
2006/9/1
Journal
Environmental Pollution
Volume
143
Issue
1
Pages
100-105
Publisher
Elsevier
Description
A significant emerging environmental problem is the disturbance and oxidation of soils with high levels of iron sulphide minerals resulting in acidification and causing the mobilization of metals into groundwater. This process is occurring in many parts of the world. In Western Australia, impacted groundwater is extracted by residents for domestic use. We sought to establish domestic use patterns of bore water and the concentration of metals. Sixty-seven domestic bore water samples clearly indicated oxidation of sulphidic materials with heavy metal concentrations ranging for aluminium (<DL–37.0mg/L), arsenic (<DL–6.6mg/L), iron (<DL–1200mg/L), cadmium (<DL–0.021mg/L), lead (<DL–0.040mg/L), selenium (<DL–0.006mg/L). A high proportion of residents used bore water on home grown produce. The study suggests that there is potential for human exposure to heavy metals via the consumption of home grown …
Total citations
20072008200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023372223542132