Environmental Geosciences; December 2006; v. 13; no. 4;
p. 267-279; DOI: 10.1306/eg.02090504049
© 2006 American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Selenium in soils and groundwater of Moldova
R. E. Hannigan1,
O. P. Bogdevich2 and
D. N. Izmailova3
1 Department of Chemistry, Arkansas State University, PO Box 419, State University, Arkansas 72467; hannigan{at}astate.edu
2 Institute of Geophysics and Geology, Moldova Academy of Science, Academy Str. 3, Chisinau, MD2028, Moldova; bogdevicholeg{at}yahoo.com
3 Institute of Geophysics and Geology, Moldova Academy of Science, Academy Str. 3, Chisinau, MD2028, Moldova; izmdina{at}yandex.ru
Hannigan is currently the director and Judd Hill Chair of Environmental Sciences. She received her B.S. degree in biology and chemistry from the College of New Jersey (1988), her M.S. degree in geology in the State University of New York at Buffalo (1994), and her M.S. degree and her Ph.D. in geochemistry from the University of Rochester (1995, 1997). She is the principal investigator of the Standoff Hazardous Agent Detection and Evaluation Systems Research Program and chief science officer of Hyphenated Solutions, Inc.
Bogdevich is the head of the Laboratory of Geochemistry. He received his diploma in engineering geology from Odessa State University, Ukraine (1985), and his Ph.D. in engineering geology from the Productive Research Institute of Geotechnical Investigation in Construction, Moscow, Russia (1992). He is also a senior research worker at the High Qualification Committee of Moldova Republic (1999). He is a leader of some institutional projects from Moldova and international projects centered on the investigation of toxic organic and inorganic pollutants in the environment.
Izmailova is a principal research collaborator of the Laboratory of Geochemistry. She received her engineering diploma in analytical chemistry from Odessa State University, Ukraine (1959), and her Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from Odessa State University, Ukraine (1973). She is also a senior research worker at the Laboratory of Geochemistry, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Moldova. She is a principal investigator on several institutional projects in Moldova and internationally and is also collaboratively involved in the study of toxic organic and inorganic pollutants in the environment.
High levels of selenium (Se) were detected in the shallow groundwaters in the rural Carpineni region of Moldova. Selenium concentrations in groundwater exceed the maximum allowable limit by 1.5–24 times (range: 15.0–240.0 µg/L). To identify the source of Se in the groundwater, we analyzed the Se content of groundwater, soils, aquifer strata, and stream sediments. Samples were taken from a variety of locations, each of different land use including both rural agricultural regions and urban areas. Neogene middle Sarmatian clays in the Carpineni region contain both elemental and residual Se. Groundwaters in Carpineni are in intimate contact with these easily weathered units, and weathering of aquifer strata leads to increased Se in rural Moldovan groundwaters. Concentrations of soluble Se are low in soils from Carpineni, and Se remobilization in these soils caused by infiltration is a negligible source of Se in the groundwater. Anthropogenic Se sources also occur in rural Moldova and may contribute to Se in groundwater. Sediments from ponds holding waters used to cool the Cuciurgan Power Station, a former coal-burning plant, contained high Se concentrations. Seepage from these ponds, as well as from similar ponds in Carpineni, may occur, although the contribution to the Se budget of the groundwaters may be minor. In the urban regions of Chisinau City, higher soil concentrations of soluble and ligand-exchangeable Se and the low Se concentrations in the Quaternary loess aquifer strata suggest that the Se in groundwaters in Chisinau are derived from anthropogenic sources, including coal burning and domestic waste discharge with Se mobilized from soils during rain events.
Copyright © 2009 by American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
