Author's personal copy Antimony distribution and mobility in topsoils and plants (Cytisus striatus, Cistus ladanifer and Dittrichia viscosa) from polluted Sb-mining areas in Extremadura (Spain) A. Murciego Murciego a , A. Garcı ´a Sa ´nchez b , M.A. Rodrı ´guez Gonza ´lez a , E. Pinilla Gil c, * , C. Toro Gordillo c , J. Cabezas Ferna ´ndez d , T. Buyolo Triguero d a  Area de Cristalografı ´a y Mineralogı ´a, Universidad de Extremadura, Avda. Elvas, s/n, E-06071 Badajoz, Spain b IRNA-CSIC, Departamento de Geoquı ´mica Ambiental, Aptdo. 257, Salamanca, Spain c Departamento de Quı ´mica Analı ´tica y Electroquı ´mica, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Extremadura, Avda. Elvas, s/n, E-06071 Badajoz, Spain d  Area de Ecologı ´a, Universidad de Extremadura, Avda. Elvas, s/n, E-06071 Badajoz, Spain Received 24 October 2005; received in revised form 30 March 2006; accepted 4 April 2006 Bioaccumulation of antimony in vegetal species growing in mining areas. Abstract A study about topsoil antimony distribution and mobility from the soils to the biomass has been afforded in three abandoned Sb mining areas located at Extremadura. Physico-chemical characteristics of the soils and total antimony levels were measured in soils and autochthonous plant species (Cytisus striatus, Cistus ladanifer and Dittrichia viscosa). Comparison with corresponding values in reference areas isolated from the mining activities is discussed. Antimony mobility in the soils was estimated by measuring the water extractable fraction; low results were ob- tained for the three soil areas, with no statistical differences. Plant ability to accumulate antimony was estimated by use of plant accumulation coefficients (PAC). Seasonal (spring vs. autumn) effects on the antimony content in the plant species. Cytisus striatus from Mari Rosa mine presented antimony excluder characteristics, whereas Dittrichia viscosa specimens growing in San Antonio mine showed a significant antimony bioaccumulation. Ó 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Antimony; Top soil; Plants; Phytoremediation; Cytisus striatus; Cistus ladanifer; Dittrichia viscose 1. Introduction Antimony is a toxic trace element to animals and humans (Elinder and Friberg, 1986; Gebel, 1997; Gebel et al., 1997), and a priority pollutant (EU, Council of the European Com- munities, 1976; USEPA, 1979). Antimony shares some toxi- cological and chemical properties with arsenic. Exposure to antimony species, especially trivalent, produces injury in or- gan systems such as the lungs, heart, liver and kidney (Fowler and Goering, 1991). The mechanism of antimony toxicity seems to include interactions with functional thiol groups of glutathione and proteins (Sun et al., 2000). Anti- mony is not a major pollutant, world production in 2001 was about 115,000 tons (U.S. Geological Survey, 2002), but local accumulation or dissipation by incineration or dumping (e.g. Sb mining areas) must be controlled, as it is the case in Extremadura mining sites. However, it is a rare element whose estimated abundance in the earth crust is very low (0.2e0.3 mgSb kg ÿ1 , Fowler and Goering, 1991). The most important ores of antimony are antimonite (stib- nite, Sb 2 S 3 ), kermesite (2 Sb 2 S 3 . Sb 2 O 3 ), valentinite (Sb 2 O 3 ) and cervantite (Sb 2 O 4 ). * Corresponding author. Tel.: þ34 924 289 389; fax: þ34 924 274 244. E-mail address: epinilla@unex.es (E.P. Gil). 0269-7491/$ - see front matter Ó 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2006.04.004 Environmental Pollution 145 (2007) 15e21 www.elsevier.com/locate/envpol