Gulf of Bothnia receives high concentrations of potentially toxic metals from acid sulphate soils

An estimated 460000 ha of acid sulphate soil (AS soil) occur within the river catchments bordering the Gulf of Bothnia in Finland and Sweden. This soil type exists because extensive areas of sulphide-bearing Holocene sediments have been drained for agricultural purposes, resulting in oxidation of metal sulphides to sulphuric acid and the concomitant formation of these acidic, environmentally-unfriendly soils. The aim of this study was to compare median values of metal concentrations in rivers discharging into the Gulf of Bothnia and obtain a uniform picture of to what extent these rivers are affected by AS-soil leaching. Dissolved element concentrations for arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), iron (Fe), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn) were determined in 47 rivers (catchment size > 500 km2) discharging into Gulf of Bothnia (a few into Gulf of Finland) along the coastline of Finland and Sweden. Water chemistry data was obtained from the Environmental Information System (HERTTA) database at the Finnish Environment Institute, the publicly available online database at Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Environmental Assessment, and from a previous study of the authors. One area in central-western Finland proved to have highly elevated concentrations of Cd, Ni and Zn, and they all occurred with a similar spatial pattern and had the highest concentrations in rivers Teuvanjoki and Maalahdenjoki. This is caused by AS-soil leaching. The metalloid As and the metals Cr, Fe, Pb did not display this pattern and are, therefore, in line with previous studies, not leached abundantly from the AS soils, although they overall occur at somewhat higher concentrations in the Finnish as compared with those in the Swedish rivers. Thorough planning of land-use operations (e.g land reclamation through ditching, dredging of rivers and estuaries, etc.) in AS-soil landscapes should be necessary, which is currently not the case, to reduce the high concentrations of Cd, Ni and Zn in rivers.