Monitoring metals in the vicinity of a municipal waste incinerator: temporal variation in soils and vegetation

The aim of this study was to determine the temporal variation in the concentrations of arsenic (As), beryllium (Be), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), manganese (Mn), mercury (Hg), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), tin (Sn), thallium (Tl), vanadium (V) and zinc (Zn) in soil and vegetation near an old municipal solid waste incinerator (MSWI). In October 1997, 24 soil and 24 herbage samples were collected at the same sampling points in which samples were also taken in October 1996. With the exception of an increase in the levels of Be and Ni, no significant differences in soils between both surveys were found; only Cr and V (decreases) and Hg (increase) showed significant variations in herbage samples during the last year. The concentrations of most elements in soil and vegetation samples collected near the MSWI are within the ranges previously reported for soil and vegetation in the vicinity of MSWIs.