Heavy metals and trace elements in the groundwater in El Paso, Texas

Conference · Sun Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 2019

OSTI ID:1657916

Marquez B, Elia ^[1]; Patrick L, Gurian ^[2]; Arregui Mena, Jose' ^[3]

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1. Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana
2. Drexel University
3. ORNL

The chemical elements studied here (Al, As, Ba, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Pb, Mn, Hg, Ni, Se, Ag, Zn, Li, B) include toxic heavy metals and non-toxic elements which have occurred at high levels in El Paso, TX groundwater (Fe, Cu, Mn, As, Pb; up to 24,000, 17,000, 3200, 95, and 1000 ppb respectively). The objective of this study is to investigate the origins of these heavy metals in the groundwater. Previous works found some of these metals in the rocks of the mountains that recharge the watershed, and sufficient evidence for natural origins of arsenic in the groundwater. Statistical analyses in this report are consistent with natural origin also for the heavy metals studied but cannot dismiss human activity as a contributing factor. Interesting correlations with R-value>0.60, p-value<0.01 warrant further analysis.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1657916
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English