Rebuttal to authors’ response regarding ‘A study of the routes of contamination by lead and cadmium in Santo Amaro, Brazil’

Abstract

The role of the lead slag on the Pb and Cd contamination at the Santo Amaro former smelter region is addressed and the speculative arguments that support the hypothesis of slag alteration and significant effect on the contamination are contested. The published results of Pb and Cd apparent soil content and the Pb/Cd ratios show that several samples was in fact a blend of soil contaminated by flue dust and slag of varying proportions. Due to the fact that the Pb- and Cd-bearing compounds of the airborne emissions and the slag have different chemical stability, the apparent potentially toxic elements soil content alone is not a robust indication of the source of the contamination.

Keywords:

• lead
• cadmium
• soil contamination
• slag
• atmospheric dispersion

View correction statement:

Erratum

Notes

This article was originally published with erroneous pagination. This version has been corrected. Please see Erratum (http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09593330.2014.869387).