Hydrocarbon and Toxic Metal Contamination from Tank Installations in a Northwest Greenlandic Village

Contamination from tank installations in the Arctic is an important issue, since tanks are a necessary feature of all communities, and may be a source of local pollution. Soil samples from below and around three tank installations and one reference site in the Northwest Greenlandic village of Tasius...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Water, Air, & Soil Pollution
Main Authors: Fritt-Rasmussen, Janne, Jensen, Pernille Erland, Christensen, Rune Haubo Bojesen, Dahllöf, Ingela
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:https://orbit.dtu.dk/en/publications/e29791ad-481f-41c9-a39e-e8bf83165a8f
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-012-1204-7
Description
Summary:Contamination from tank installations in the Arctic is an important issue, since tanks are a necessary feature of all communities, and may be a source of local pollution. Soil samples from below and around three tank installations and one reference site in the Northwest Greenlandic village of Tasiusaq were analysed for the total content of hydrocarbons (THC), lead, cadmium and organic content in the soil. Concentrations up to 77,000 mg/kg DW THC were found, mainly as weathered oil products. Elevated levels of lead and cadmium were also found in many of the samples, with concentrations up to 300 and 2 mg/kg DW, respectively. The tank installation areas were contaminated by THC, lead and cadmium compared to the reference site, and parts of the areas were highly contaminated, exceeding the Danish environmental quality criteria. The correlation between lead and cadmium concentrations was significant (p<0.01), while no correlation existed between THC and organic matter. Small spills from daily use of the tank installations are suggested to be the source of the THC contamination, whereas the lead and cadmium contamination is suggested to originate primarily from the plume of smoke from waste incineration.