Ecotoxicity tests and ecoscores to improve soil management : case of a secondary lead smelter plant

Abstract : riginally located on the outskirts of cities, numerous industrial sites, sometimes abandoned, are now in urban areas and are therefore likely to have environmental and health risks to surrounding populations. Currently, rehabilitation of the sites frequently entails excavation of polluted soils. Excavated soils can thus follow two different ways: landfilling, expensive and energy intensive, or reuse/recycling, integrated to sustainable development. The choice of a specific track mainly depends on total and leachable concentrations of the pollutant in the soil. Among the numerous pollutants observed in urban and peri-urban areas, trace metals are often present in soils; atmosphere emissions by smelters being one of the main anthropogenic source. MTE speciation and compartmentalization in soils can modify their impact on living organisms.