Recent depositional history of noble and critical elements in sediments from a wastewater-impacted bay (Vidy Bay, Lake Geneva, Switzerland)

Article Article scientifique Article Recent depositional history of noble and critical elements in sediments from a wastewater-impacted bay (Vidy Bay, Lake Geneva, Switzerland) eng 2025-01 author Loizeau Jean-Luc 0000-0002-0611-0388 23020 Forel Communs (FOREL) author Jiranek Guillaume 748256 author Cobelo-García Antonio author Filella Montserrat 0000-0002-5943-1273 23950 106240 10.1016/j.apgeochem.2024.106240 0883-2927 https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0883292724003457 Opposing trends in environmental pollution have been observed in recent years, with a growing awareness of the need to reduce emissions to the environment being accompanied by a concomitant increase in the use of polluting substances, which can potentially end up in the environment and harm humans and ecosystems. In order to assess the temporal evolution of loadings of seldom monitored trace elements, including noble metals and some technology critical elements, we analyzed a sediment core taken from the Bay of Vidy (Lake Geneva), impacted by the effluent of an urban wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). The temporal profiles of the chemical elements show essentially two patterns linked to the implementation of the WWTP, with some elements increasing sharply (e.g. Au, In, Ba, Sb, Sn, platinum group elements), while others (e.g. Ga, Ge, rare earth elements) show decreasing concentrations due to dilution by additional effluent particle loads. The origin of the elements showing a marked increase is attributed to local sources (photographic industry and municipal incinerator). There is (still?) no evidence in the sedimentary record of concentration increases linked to the growing use of technologically critical elements by industry. Temporal evolution TCE PGE Noble metals Dated core Sedimentary record Lake Geneva Dewey 550 Dewey 333.7-333.9 EU Network on technology-critical elements—from environmental processes to human health threats. TD1407 COST 41 Département F.-A. Forel des sciences de l'environnement et de l'eau 153 18 Institut des sciences de l'environnement 0DB false 938 ISE Pôle Sciences 944 ISE Eau 753 Limnology and Environmental Geology Applied geochemistry 178 0d09db23-92e5-4b68-9b90-7698d0d07811 Article (Published version) Public Loizeau_et_al_2025_Applied_Geochem.pdf 6855086 application/pdf CC BY-4.0 f1acbba8e9de9f1b6be78fc1a1635ad009c6ad51f650bfcdc636db6bbd37c61c openAccess Faculté des sciences / Section des sciences de la Terre et de l'Environnement / Département F.-A. Forel des sciences de l'environnement et de l'eau Centres et instituts / Institut des sciences de l'environnement

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Recent depositional history of noble and critical elements in sediments from a wastewater-impacted bay (Vidy Bay, Lake Geneva, Switzerland)	Applied geochemistry			2025	136	49

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Jiranek, Guillaume