Criteria of the technogenic nature of heavy metals and metalloids in soils: A review of publications

Both routine statistical methods (the compliance of the heavy metal content with the exponent or ruling out abnormally high values of heavy metal concentrations in the Gaussian distribution) and new geostatistics based approaches are used as the criteria of the technogenic nature of heavy metals. Methods are being developed that take into consideration the marker element content (Al) in soil profiles. The geochemical criteria of the technogenic character are based on the statistical relationship between the content of the particular heavy metal (or metalloid) and its principal mineral phase carrier in the background soils, as well as on the disturbance of this relationship upon soil pollution. The chemical criteria are based on the different solubility of natural and technogenic heavy metals by reagents. A procedure of the quantitative assessment of the origin of technogenic lead depending on its isotopic composition is developed. The magnetic criteria of the technogenic nature of heavy metals are based on their association with technogenic magnetite.