High levels of heavy metals concentrations in soil can direct to plant contamination; soil contaminated by heavy metals may pose a threat to human health if these enter the food chain. Copsa Mica is one of the sites with the highest degree of heavy metal pollution in Romania, the whole area being well known on national and international level for the ecological lack of balance due to the  a non-ferrous smelter plant which uses ecological hazardous technologies:  Sometra. The aim of this study was to establish the soil contamination with lead and cadmium in the target area. As the local population produces, sells and consumes a great number of agricultural products, food chain analysis was performed in order to establish the levels of contamination with lead and cadmium. Samples were processed through microwave-assisted mineralization using a using a Berghoff Microwave Digestion System MWS-3+. Analyses were performed using atomic absorption technique with graphite furnace and flame atomization, with a Shimadzu AA-6300 AAS double-beam instrument. The obtained results demonstrated that the heavy metals content in Copsa Mica area significantly higher than the results obtained in an unpolluted reference area. For soil samples, the maximum lead concentrations were recorded in samples originating from Micasasa and Agarbiciu, while for cadmium, the maximum concentration was recorded for a sampling point from Copsa Mica, near the pollution source, being higher than the maximum allowed limits. For the other samples, the highest concentration of lead was recorded for snails originating in Copsa Mica, which accumulates also the highest level of cadmium, followed by grass (Seica, Bazna, Dumbraveni, Copsa Mica) and potatoes form Micasasa. For cadmium, the maximum concentration was that found in snails grown in Copsa Mica, followed by grass (Seica, Copsa Mica) and again snails (Capus). The obtained results showed that heavy metals contamination of soil in Copşa Mică area its surroundings is significant; the high heavy metal content in plants grown in the vicinity of the industrial site, as well as in different products for food purposes represents a severe risk for public health.

cadmium; lead; heavy metals; soil; pollution; food

Presentation: oral