The present work investigates soil pollution by elemental contaminants and compares ecological ri... more The present work investigates soil pollution by elemental contaminants and compares ecological risk indexes related to industrial activities for the case study of Puchuncaví-Ventanas: a relevant industrial zone located in central Chile. Selected elements (As, Pb, Cd, Ni, Hg, V, Mn, Zn, Sr, Sb, Cr, Co, Cu, K, and Ba) were analyzed during a long-term period (yearly sampling campaigns during 2007-2011), at 5 sampling stations representing different degrees of impact. PCA and cluster analysis allowed identifying a copper smelter and a coal-fired power plant complex as major pollution sources. Geoaccumulation index (Igeo), enrichment factor (EF), contamination factor (Cf), contamination degree (Cdeg), and integrated pollution index (IPI) are critically discussed for quantitative ecological risk assessment. Igeo, EF and Cf indexes are producing comparable environmental information, showing moderate to high pollution risks in the area that demands further monitoring and adoption of prevention and remediation measures. Long term assessment of elemental pollution around an industrial area. New insight on ecological risk indexes for trace element pollution in soils, by critical comparison among them.
The present work investigates soil pollution by elemental contaminants and compares ecological ri... more The present work investigates soil pollution by elemental contaminants and compares ecological risk indexes related to industrial activities for the case study of Puchuncaví-Ventanas: a relevant industrial zone located in central Chile. Selected elements (As, Pb, Cd, Ni, Hg, V, Mn, Zn, Sr, Sb, Cr, Co, Cu, K, and Ba) were analyzed during a long-term period (yearly sampling campaigns during 2007–2011), at 5 sampling stations representing different degrees of impact. PCA and cluster analysis allowed identifying a copper smelter and a coal-fired power plant complex as major pollution sources. Geoaccumulation index (Igeo), enrichment factor (EF), contamination factor (Cf), contamination degree (Cdeg), and integrated pollution index (IPI) are critically discussed for quantitative ecological risk assessment. Igeo, EF and Cf indexes are producing comparable environmental information, showing moderate to high pollution risks in the area that demands further monitoring and adoption of prevention and remediation measures.
A set of 72 PM10 samples from lowpolluted
urban and rural locations belonging to the
regional a... more A set of 72 PM10 samples from lowpolluted
urban and rural locations belonging to the
regional air monitoring network of Extremadura
(Spain) were collected in a 1 year sampling period.
Sample pre-treatment and analytical determination by
gas chromatography–ion trap mass spectrometry were
optimised and validated for the analysis of the priority
16 US Environmental Protection Agency polycyclic
aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The influence of meteorological
conditions (temperature, relative humidity
and solar radiation) and other atmospheric pollutants
(O3, NO2, SO2, PM10) has been covered in detail and
Pearson correlation test were used for this purpose.
Spatial distribution of particulate PAHs was evaluated
and the comparison with other European sites was also
established. Possible emission sources were identified
and assigned by using molecular diagnostic criteria.
Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B, 2011
Plutonium is present in every environmental compartment, due to a variety of nuclear activities. ... more Plutonium is present in every environmental compartment, due to a variety of nuclear activities. The Southern Hemisphere has received about 20% of the global 239Pu and 240Pu environmental inventory, with an important contribution of the so-called tropospheric fallout from both the atmospheric nuclear tests performed in the French Polynesia and in Australia by France and United Kingdom, respectively. In this work we provide new data on the impact of these tests to South America through the study of 239Pu and 240Pu in soils from different areas of Northern, Central and Southern Chile. The obtained results point out to the presence of debris from the French tests in the 20–40° Southern latitude range, with 240Pu/239Pu atomic ratios quite heterogeneous and ranging from 0.02 to 0.23. They are significantly different from the expected one for the global fallout in the Southern Hemisphere for the 30–53°S latitude range (0.185 ± 0.047), but they follow the same trend as the reported values by the Department of Energy of United States for other points with similar latitudes. The 239 + 240Pu activity inventories show as well a wider variability range in that latitude range, in agreement with the expected heterogeneity of the contamination.
The present work investigates soil pollution by elemental contaminants and compares ecological ri... more The present work investigates soil pollution by elemental contaminants and compares ecological risk indexes related to industrial activities for the case study of Puchuncaví-Ventanas: a relevant industrial zone located in central Chile. Selected elements (As, Pb, Cd, Ni, Hg, V, Mn, Zn, Sr, Sb, Cr, Co, Cu, K, and Ba) were analyzed during a long-term period (yearly sampling campaigns during 2007-2011), at 5 sampling stations representing different degrees of impact. PCA and cluster analysis allowed identifying a copper smelter and a coal-fired power plant complex as major pollution sources. Geoaccumulation index (Igeo), enrichment factor (EF), contamination factor (Cf), contamination degree (Cdeg), and integrated pollution index (IPI) are critically discussed for quantitative ecological risk assessment. Igeo, EF and Cf indexes are producing comparable environmental information, showing moderate to high pollution risks in the area that demands further monitoring and adoption of prevention and remediation measures. Long term assessment of elemental pollution around an industrial area. New insight on ecological risk indexes for trace element pollution in soils, by critical comparison among them.
The present work investigates soil pollution by elemental contaminants and compares ecological ri... more The present work investigates soil pollution by elemental contaminants and compares ecological risk indexes related to industrial activities for the case study of Puchuncaví-Ventanas: a relevant industrial zone located in central Chile. Selected elements (As, Pb, Cd, Ni, Hg, V, Mn, Zn, Sr, Sb, Cr, Co, Cu, K, and Ba) were analyzed during a long-term period (yearly sampling campaigns during 2007–2011), at 5 sampling stations representing different degrees of impact. PCA and cluster analysis allowed identifying a copper smelter and a coal-fired power plant complex as major pollution sources. Geoaccumulation index (Igeo), enrichment factor (EF), contamination factor (Cf), contamination degree (Cdeg), and integrated pollution index (IPI) are critically discussed for quantitative ecological risk assessment. Igeo, EF and Cf indexes are producing comparable environmental information, showing moderate to high pollution risks in the area that demands further monitoring and adoption of prevention and remediation measures.
A set of 72 PM10 samples from lowpolluted
urban and rural locations belonging to the
regional a... more A set of 72 PM10 samples from lowpolluted
urban and rural locations belonging to the
regional air monitoring network of Extremadura
(Spain) were collected in a 1 year sampling period.
Sample pre-treatment and analytical determination by
gas chromatography–ion trap mass spectrometry were
optimised and validated for the analysis of the priority
16 US Environmental Protection Agency polycyclic
aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The influence of meteorological
conditions (temperature, relative humidity
and solar radiation) and other atmospheric pollutants
(O3, NO2, SO2, PM10) has been covered in detail and
Pearson correlation test were used for this purpose.
Spatial distribution of particulate PAHs was evaluated
and the comparison with other European sites was also
established. Possible emission sources were identified
and assigned by using molecular diagnostic criteria.
Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B, 2011
Plutonium is present in every environmental compartment, due to a variety of nuclear activities. ... more Plutonium is present in every environmental compartment, due to a variety of nuclear activities. The Southern Hemisphere has received about 20% of the global 239Pu and 240Pu environmental inventory, with an important contribution of the so-called tropospheric fallout from both the atmospheric nuclear tests performed in the French Polynesia and in Australia by France and United Kingdom, respectively. In this work we provide new data on the impact of these tests to South America through the study of 239Pu and 240Pu in soils from different areas of Northern, Central and Southern Chile. The obtained results point out to the presence of debris from the French tests in the 20–40° Southern latitude range, with 240Pu/239Pu atomic ratios quite heterogeneous and ranging from 0.02 to 0.23. They are significantly different from the expected one for the global fallout in the Southern Hemisphere for the 30–53°S latitude range (0.185 ± 0.047), but they follow the same trend as the reported values by the Department of Energy of United States for other points with similar latitudes. The 239 + 240Pu activity inventories show as well a wider variability range in that latitude range, in agreement with the expected heterogeneity of the contamination.
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Papers by Víctor Cortez
urban and rural locations belonging to the
regional air monitoring network of Extremadura
(Spain) were collected in a 1 year sampling period.
Sample pre-treatment and analytical determination by
gas chromatography–ion trap mass spectrometry were
optimised and validated for the analysis of the priority
16 US Environmental Protection Agency polycyclic
aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The influence of meteorological
conditions (temperature, relative humidity
and solar radiation) and other atmospheric pollutants
(O3, NO2, SO2, PM10) has been covered in detail and
Pearson correlation test were used for this purpose.
Spatial distribution of particulate PAHs was evaluated
and the comparison with other European sites was also
established. Possible emission sources were identified
and assigned by using molecular diagnostic criteria.
urban and rural locations belonging to the
regional air monitoring network of Extremadura
(Spain) were collected in a 1 year sampling period.
Sample pre-treatment and analytical determination by
gas chromatography–ion trap mass spectrometry were
optimised and validated for the analysis of the priority
16 US Environmental Protection Agency polycyclic
aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The influence of meteorological
conditions (temperature, relative humidity
and solar radiation) and other atmospheric pollutants
(O3, NO2, SO2, PM10) has been covered in detail and
Pearson correlation test were used for this purpose.
Spatial distribution of particulate PAHs was evaluated
and the comparison with other European sites was also
established. Possible emission sources were identified
and assigned by using molecular diagnostic criteria.