Environmental Evaluation of a Local Lake Chain Affected by Wastewater by Means of Spectrochemical Analytical Methods (dedikált példány) [antikvár]

MICROCHEMICAL JOURNAL 59, 125-135 (1998) ARTICLE NO. MJ981574 Environmental Evaluation of a Local Lake Chain Affected by Wastewater by Means of Spectrochemical Analytical Methods Gy. Heltai,*'1 I. Fekete,* Z. Gémesi.t K. Percsich,* K. Flórián,$ and Zs. Tarr* * Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Gödöllő University of Agricultural Sciences, H-2103 Gödöllő, Hungary; tResearch Institute of Small Animal Husbandry, PO Box 417, H-2100 Gödöllő, Hungary; and t Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Metallurgy, Technical University, Letná 9, SK-042000 Kosice, Slovakia Analytical strategy for clarification of an environmental pollution problem is presented in a case study. An artificial lake chain created by a rivulet running through the town of Gödöllő was investigated. Today it is supplied by cleaned wastewater from Gödöllő as well. The sediment was used as a cumulative indicator of pollution. It was shown that the application of limit values and standardized (or suggested) methods for analysis of wastewater sediment does not provide satisfactory information on the environmental status of the lakes and on the environmental hazards of pollution. For this purpose it was necessary to develop a suitable sampling strategy that would allow determination of the spatial distribution of different elements (nutrients and heavy metals) in the sediment layer. The estimation of total element concentration was made by dc-arc spectrography. The mobile element fraction was determined by means of 2 M HN03 extraction and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry. The different radionuclides were detected by y spectroscopy. The influence of the Chernobyl reactor accident was detected in the upper 30-35 cm sediment layer, at the waste inlets, the radioactivity was near the tolerable limit values. The above complex analytical evaluation together with soil hygienic investigations has made it possible to prove the origin and level of pollution in the lakes. S 1998 Academic Press Questions in the field of environmental analytics are very wide ranging, and can often be defined only with the cooperation of the person ordering the research and the researcher. On the other hand, there is a demand both for standardizing and for quality assurance of the environmental analytical methods. The definition of hazards, establishment of limits, and circumscribing of remediation criteria, however, all require exceptional caution. Application of standard methods alone could lead to grievous error. In this paper, the necessity of a versatile approach is demonstrated through a local example. The problem is as follows: The Rákos stream, the sources of which lie to the north of the town of Gödöllő, which is situated 30 km northeast of the capital, Budapest is a significant water flow. Fish ponds and watermills have been established south of Gödöllő with the water of the stream for centuries, forming a nine-unit string of lakes in the valley of the stream. This string of lakes is exposed to a greater load of sewage sludge because of accelerated urbanizing processes. The local sewage cleaner (biological), installed in 1990, gives about 50% of the water supplement. The cleaned wastewater is introduced into the first lake, and the rain collector of a local machine factory leads to the seventh ' To whom correspondence should be addressed.