Antimony as a tracer of the anthropogenic influence on soils and estuarine sediments

The aim of this work was to evaluate antimony (Sb) as a potentially valuable tracer of the anthropogenic impact on soils and estuarine sediments. Antimony was determined in fifteen roadsoils from a medium-size city, La Coruna (NW of Spain); and twelve sediments from two estuaries (La Coruna and Ares-Betanzos). Sb determination was accomplished in a rapid and reliable way by directly measuring the solid samples with an automatic ultrasonic slurry sampling-ETAAS device. Soil contents ranged from 0.29 to 8.81 mug g(-1). A relation between Sb concentration and motor vehicle intensity was observed. Regarding estuarine sediments, Sb amounted from 0.22 to 1.51 mug g(-1), for the La Coruna estuary and 0.24 to 0.71 mug g(-1), for the Ares-Betanzos estuary; higher Sb values were found for coastal locations whereas lower contents corresponded to 'inner' samples. In order to confirm these findings, other pollutants were studied: As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn, aliphatic hydrocarbons (AH) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). These values, along with the Sb ones, were subjected to multivariate studies intended to elucidate whether Sb correlated (and to what extent) to other well-known anthropogenic pollutants. Thus, Sb became associated to Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn in road soils and to As, Cu, Zn, PAH, Pb and unresolved hydrocarbons, in sediments.