Assessment of arsenic enrichment of cultivated soils in Southern Poland

Abstract

Arsenic content in the cultivated soils of an area affected by long-range atmospheric transport from the Upper Silesian Industrial Region (southern Poland) and point emission sources (coal mine) was 8.7 mg/kg on average. The calculated index of geoaccumulation pointed to moderate arsenic contamination of the soil. The enrichment factor calculated as a ratio between arsenic content in the soil and arsenic content in the earth crust applying the logarithmic values of reference elements (i.e. chromium and calcium) also classified the soil as moderately contaminated with arsenic.