Assessing urban soil pollution in the cities of Zacatecas and Guadalupe, Mexico by instrumental neutron activation analysis

Abstract The cities of Zacatecas and Guadalupe in the state of Zacatecas, Mexico, have strong mining traditions since they were founded in 1546 by Spanish conquers, and the rapid growth of vehicle traffic in the last 30 years has had the side effect of introducing toxic metals into the urban soils. For this study, urban soil samples were collected from eight locations around the cities of Zacatecas and Guadalupe; and mine tailing samples were collected from two nearby tailing dams named Barones and Pedernalillo. The ten samples were analyzed by instrumental neutron activation analysis for 33 major, trace, and rare earth elements to estimate the health risk to the public by urban soil contamination with heavy metals. The results of the contamination levels for elements such as As, Ba, Cr, Fe, Mn, Ni, Ta, V, and Zn were compared to the Mexican regulations and the guidelines of United States Environmental Protection Agency. Enrichment factors for quantified elements identified high Cs, Zn, As, and Sb contents using Al as a crustal reference.