Risk assessment of urban soils contamination: The particular case of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

• Tipo: Outra Publicação em Revista Científica Internacional
• Data: 2016

Autores

Cachada, A (Autor) Outra; Ferreira da Silva, EF (Autor) Outra; Duarte, AC (Autor) Outra; Ruth Pereira (Autor) FCUP

Revista

Título: Science of the Total Environment

Vol. 551

Páginas: 271-284

ISSN: 0048-9697

Editora: Elsevier

Indexação

ISI Web of Knowledge - 71 Citações

Scopus - 81 Citações

Outras Informações

ID Authenticus: P-00K-5QG

DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.02.012

Abstract (EN): The assessment of soil quality and characterization of potential risks to the environment and human health can be a very difficult task due to the heterogeneity and complexity of the matrix, the poor understanding about the fate of contaminants in the soilmatrix, scarcity of toxicological/ecotoxicological data and variability of guidelines. In urban soils these difficulties are enhanced by the patchy nature of urban areas and the presence of complex mixtures of organic and inorganic contaminants resulting from diffuse pollution caused by urban activities (e.g. traffic, industrial activity, and burning of carbon sources for heating). Yet, several tools are available which may help to assess the risks of soil contamination in a simpler, cost effective and reliable way. Within these tools, a tiered risk assessment (RA) approach, first based on a chemical screening in combination with geostatistical tools, may be very useful in urban areas. However, there is still much to improve and a long way to go in order to obtain a reliable RA, especially in the case of hydrophobic organic compounds such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). This paper aims at proposing a RA framework to assess the environmental and human health risks of PAHs present in urban soils, based on existing models. In addition, a review on ecotoxicological, toxicological, and exposure assessment data was made, as well as of the existing soil quality guidelines for PAHs that can be used in the RA process.

Idioma: Inglês

Tipo (Avaliação Docente): Científica

Nº de páginas: 14