Assessment of impact of military activities on soil contamination with potentially toxic elements and organic pollutants: a case study for the Poček military training ground, Slovenia.
Al Sayegh Petkovšek S, Kotnik K, Breznik K
Phytoremediation
Lead and copper from old shooting ranges can leach into the groundwater and streams that feed your garden and drinking water supply, and the same phytoremediation approach tested here could eventually help clean up contaminated land near you.
Researchers tested soils at a large military training site in Slovenia and found extremely high levels of lead and copper, mainly around shooting ranges, from decades of ammunition use. Strangely, chemical pollutants like oils and solvents were barely detectable. The exciting finding is that Scots pine trees — a common forest tree — show real potential to pull these heavy metals out of the soil naturally, which could offer a low-cost way to restore contaminated military lands.
Key Findings
Lead concentrations in topsoil at the shooting range reached 7,210 mg/kg — 190 times the natural background level and 13 times Slovenia's legal limit.
Copper peaked at 952 mg/kg, more than 53 times background levels, while organic pollutants like oils and solvents remained below national alert thresholds.
Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) demonstrated measurable phytoremediation potential for lead- and copper-contaminated soils in forested karst environments.
chevron_right Technical Summary
A Slovenian military training ground has heavily contaminated surface soils with lead and copper from shooting activities, with lead levels up to 190 times natural background levels. Scots pine trees show promise as a natural cleanup tool for these metal-polluted sites.
Abstract Preview
This study presents the first comprehensive assessment of soil contamination caused by military training activities at Slovenia's largest military training ground, which has been used at varying in...
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Pinus sylvestris is a species of tree in the pine family Pinaceae that is native to Eurasia. It is commonly known as the Scots pine in English; it is also known as the Scotch pine in the United States, and occasionally called the Baltic pine or European red pine. It can readily be identified by i...