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Heavy metals in soils of

Argentina: Comparison
between urban and
agricultural soils
a a
R. S. Lavado , M. B. Rodríguez , J. D.
a a a
Scheiner , M. A. Taboada , G. Rubio , R.
a a a
Alvarez , M. Alconada & M. S. Zubillaga
a
Departamento de Suelos, Facultad de
Agronomía, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Av.
San MartÌn 4453, Buenos Aires, 1417, Argentina
Version of record first published: 11 Nov 2008.

To cite this article: R. S. Lavado , M. B. Rodríguez , J. D. Scheiner , M. A.

Taboada , G. Rubio , R. Alvarez , M. Alconada & M. S. Zubillaga (1998): Heavy
metals in soils of Argentina: Comparison between urban and agricultural soils,
Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis, 29:11-14, 1913-1917

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 COMMUN. SOIL SCI. PLANT ANAL., 29(11-14), 1913-1917 (1998)

HEAVY METALS IN SOILS OF ARGENTINA: COMPARISON BETWEEN

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URBAN AND AGRICULTURAL SOILS

R. S. Lavado, M. B. Rodríguez, J. D. Scheiner, M. A. Taboada, G.
Rubio, R. Alvarez, M. Alconada, and M. S. Zubillaga
Departamento de Suelos, Facultad de Agronomía, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Av.
San MartÌn 4453, 1417 Buenos Aires, Argentina
ABSTRACT
Trace metals, including heavy metals, can be harmful to the biota and human beings.
This leads to study the accumulation of those elements in soils. In the Pampean
region (Argentina) this knowledge is scarce. Our objectives were to (i) determine the
trace metal concentration in soils of Buenos Aires City and agricultural areas, (ii) start
to establish the soil trace metals baseline concentration, and (iii) find relationships
between soil properties and those elements Topsoil samples were taken in Buenos
Aires City and on farms along an arc 50 to 250 km away from the metropolis. All
studied soils were Mollisols. Soil samples were analyzed for their cadmium (Cd),
copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co), lead (Pb), and nickel (Ni)
contents by acid extraction. Soil properties were determined using standard methods.
The soils of Buenos Aires City show the highest average concentrations of Cd, Cu,
Pb, and Zn. The further the sampling sites were from Buenos Aires, the lower the
metal concentration in the soils. Conversely, there were no differences in Co, Cr, and
Ni concentrations from urban to the rural soils. There was a high variability in metal
concentrations. We hypothetized that cars are the main source of contamination of Pb
and Cd in the urban soils. The measured metals concentrations from rural areas, can
be a basis from which to establish the background levels of those soils. Clay content
was related to the concentrations of Cd, Cr, Ni. Pb, and Zn in soils.

INTRODUCTION
Trace metals, including heavy metals, concentration are related to several factors
in non-contaminated soils. Among those factors are biogeochemical cycling, parent
material, particle-size distribution, soil age, mineralogy, organic matter content, and
drainage (Frink, 1993; Lee et al., 1997; Ma et al., 1997). Holmgren et al. (1993)
have indicated that concentrations generally follow the degree of weathering. Over
those natural processes, man's activities tend to increase the concentration of heavy
metals and other trace elements in soils (Dudka, 1992; Dudka, et al. 1995). Those
elements can be harmful to the biota, including human beings. This fact leads to the
necessity of studying the accumulation of those elements in soils. The extent of soil
contamination is generally determined by a comparison with total elemental concen-
tration of soil at an assumed non-contaminated nearby site (Frink, 1996).

1913

Copyright © 1998 by Marcel Dekker, Inc. www.dekker.com

 1914 LAVADO ET AL.

The region of the Pampas (Argentina) is covered mainly by Mollisols, developed

from a young parent material (loess-like sediments). The water and temperature
regimes vary between udic/thermic in normal relief areas and aquic/thermic in
depressions. Most soils do not show significant differences in their genesis (Lavado,
1991). In the region are manufacturing industries and the population is located mainly
in the city of Buenos Aires and the outskirts. The region is one of the largest
temperate crop production areas of the Southern Hemisphere, but the soils of the area
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receive no or little mineral fertilizers or organic amenmends like biosolids on urban

residues (Lavado, 1991). Mining is not relevant in this area.
Soil trace metal concentration has been studied in North America, Europe, and
parts of Asia (Ma et al., 1977), but in South America, in general and in the Pampean
region in particular, this knowledge is scarce. Llosa et al. (1990) have determinated
levels of Pb, Cd, Zn, and Cu in soils in industrial and residential areas of Buenos
Aires City. Camilión et al. (1995,1996) determined the Cu, Pb, and Zn contents in
agricultural soils located in the south of the city. Comparing local data, the soils of
the Buenos Aires City had higher concentrations of Pb, Cu, and Zn than the agri-
cultural soils. However, the degree of contamination and the natural background
levels of those metals and several other metals, are still unknown.
Our objectives were to (i) determine the trace metal concentration of soils located
in the urban area of the Buenos Aires City and agricultural nearby areas, (ii) start to
establish the baseline concentration of such metals in eastern Pampean soils, and (iii)
find the relationships between several soil properties and these elements.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
An average of three topsoil (0-20 cm) samples were taken in ten places, two in
Buenos Aires Cty and eight on farms along an arc 50 to 250 km away from the
metropolis. All studied soils were Mollisols (U.S. Soil Taxonomy): Hapludolls,
Argiudolls, and Natraquolls with some differences in clay and organic matter
contents, and exchangeable cations.
Soil samples were grounded, sieved, and analyzed for their Cu, Zn, Cr, Co, Pb,
Cd, and Ni contents. The elements were acid-extracted in a mixture of hydrofluoric,
nitric, perchloric, and sulfuric (HF-HNO3-HC1O4-H2SO4) acids (Page et al., 1982).
The elements in the extract was determined by inductively couple plasma emission
spectrometry (ICP). Clay and organic matter contents and pH were determined in all
samples using standard methods (Page et al., 1982). For each sampling site, the
average and the standard error was calculated.
The soils and sampling sites were grouped according to their distance from
Buenos Aires as follows:

Distance Soil Type Location

0-50 km Vertic Argiudoll (a) Campus of the Faculty of
Agronomy, Buenos Aires City
Vertic Argiudoll (b) Square at a residential area of
the Buenos Aires City
50-100 km Vertic Argiudoll
beheaded(c) La Plata County
Vertic Argiudoll (d) La Plata County
100-150 km Typic Argiudoll (e) S.A. Areco County
Typic Natraquoll (f) Cañuelas County
Vertic Argiudoll (g) San Pedro County
 HEAVY METALS IN ARGENTINIAN SOILS 1915
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0-50 50-100 100-150 150-250

Distance from Buenos Aires (km)

FIGURE 1. Average concentration and standard error of Pb, Cd, Cu, and Zn.

• Cr
DCo
• Ni

0-50 50-100 100-150 150-250

Distance from Buenos Aires (km)

FIGURE 2. Average concentration and standard deviation of Cr, Co, and Ni.

150-250 km Typic Hapludoll (h) Alberti County

Typic Argiudoll (i) Chacabuco County
Argiaquic Argiaquoll (j) Chascomús County
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Concentrations of the metals studied are summarized in Figures 1 and 2. The
global distribution of Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn follow an expected pattern: the soils of
Buenos Aires City show the highest average concentrations for these metals. The
further the sampling sites from Buenos Aires, the lower the metal concentration in
soils. Conversely, there were not differences in the Co, Cr, and Ni concentrations
 1916 LAVADO ET AL.

Table 1. Correlations between clay content and some elements.

Element Equation R2

Cd y = 15.27 + 23.3 (% clay) 54% (P< 0.06)

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Zn y = 3.54x(%clay)°2 4 50% (P< 0.07)

Cr y = 10.15 + 0.54 (% clay) 64% (P< 0.05)
Ni y =15.42+1.4 (% clay) 63% (P< 0.06)
Pb y = 2.41 + 033 (% clay) 72% (P< 0.03)

from urban to rural soils. There was a high variability in metal concentrations,
particularly in the last three soils. This cannot be to attributed to either soil inherent
variability or to localized recent contamination.
The average concentrations of Cd and Pb in the soils of Buenos Aires City
exceeded both the maximum tolerable soil limits (Commision of European Com-
munity, 1982) and the maximum level in the range of variation of non-contaminated
soils of the World (Frink, 1996). In industrial areas of Buenos Aires City, Llosa et
al. (1990) found higher concentrations of Pb but similar Cd levels as we did. The
concentrations of both elements in the agricultural soils are around the average world
concentrations (Frink, 1996) and the known local values (Camilión et al., 1996).
The concentrations of Cu and Zn are below the maximum tolerable thresholds
(Kloke, 1983) and do not reach the maximum level in the range of variation of
non-contaminated soils of the world (Frink, 1996). However, our Cu level data
exceeded those values previously determined in non-contaminated soils of Buenos
Aires City (Llosa et al., 1990), and values from other non-contaminated areas
elsewhere (Berrow and Reaves, 1984). The concentrations of Zn, however, are
lower than those from other local data (Llosa, 1990). There are not previous local
data for the elements Co, Cr, and Ni. Our data are shown in Figure 2. Average
concentrations of Cr and Ni were below most world data, but those for Co were
above (Frink, 19%).
Several authors (Frink, 1996; Lee et al., 1997; Ma et al., 1997) have obtained
correlations between the concentrations of different heavy metals with particle size
fractions. In our case, clay content (data no shown) was only significantly related to
the concentrations of Cd, Cr, Ni. Pb, and Zn (Table 1). These correlations coincided
with those found in nearby soils (Camilión et al., 1995). There was no relationship
between the studied metals and soil pH and the organic matter content. The lack of
influence of the latter can be attributed to the large clay content of the soils selected
(Lee et al., 1997).
In summary, the metal concentration in the studied soils was variable and two
factors affected their distribution pattern: the distance from the city and probably to a
lesser degree, the one soil characteristic, clay content. For some of the elements,
mainly Cd and Pb, their concentrations fell sharply with a distance of 50 km or more
from the City of Buenos Aires. With our limited data, it could be hypothetized that
 HEAVY METALS IN ARGENTINIAN SOILS 1917

cars are the main source of contamination for these metals in the urban residential
soils. Their total concentrations, particularly those from rural areas, can be taken as a
basis to establish the background levels for those soils.
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