Environmental levels of antimony, arsenic and mercury in the Tafone mining area (Southern Tuscany, Italy)

A geochemical survey on mine wastes, fresh waters and biota, carried out in the Monti Romani zone, reveals heavy Sb-(As-Hg) pollution in an area between the Tafone and Chiarone fluvial basins. In the Tafone stream there is a steep increase of the antimony content in water downstream of mine wastes as far as the mouth, with peak levels of the dissolved element. The waters of Tafone Lake also exhibit heavy antimony pollution and ichthyofauna have high levels of both Sb and Hg in muscle tissue. Wild and cultivated species of plants, collected in the neighborhood of mining areas, often present anomalous contents of these heavy elements. The environmental damage turns out to be closely linked to the wastes of mining and smelting activities and can be attributed largely to the cessation of mining works without any appropriate reclamation program.