Heavy Metals in a High Arctic Fiord and Their Introduction with the Wastewater: A Case Study of Adventfjorden-Longyearbyen System, Svalbard

• Published in: Water
• Main Authors: Agnieszka Kalinowska, Małgorzata Szopińska, Stanisław Chmiel, Magdalena Kończak, Żaneta Polkowska, Wojciech Artichowicz, Katarzyna Jankowska, Aga Nowak, Aneta Łuczkiewicz
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020
• Subjects: high arctic marine environment; wastewater discharge; heavy metals; icp-ms; water pollution in the arctic; Hydraulic engineering; TC1-978; Water supply for domestic and industrial purposes; TD201-500; Adventfjorden; Arctic; Longyearbyen; Svalbard; Svalbard Archipelago
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/w12030794; https://doaj.org/article/a294d56ee56d40cba49fdc57e3b55e02

Longyearbyen is the largest settlement on Svalbard archipelago, with 2400 permanent residents and approximately 150,000 tourists visiting every year. The city annually releases approximately 285,000 m 3 of untreated wastewater to the nearby Adventfjorden. To date, the environmental impact of this continuous input has been studied mainly regarding the sediments and benthic fauna in the fiord. Here, we present results from a study of raw wastewater entering Adventfjorden as well as heavy metals concentrations in the water column within the fjord itself. Two surveys were carried out in summer and autumn season 2018, to establish physical and chemical properties of water at various locations. Trace elements (V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Hg, As, Cd, Pb, U), total suspended solids (TSS) and total organic carbon (TOC) were measured. Our results show that Longyearbyen’s raw wastewater introduces low concentrations of heavy metals to the fiord, but due to the growing number of inhabitants and tourists, it should be monitored to avoid degradation of Adventfjorden ecosystem