Assessment of diffuse contamination of agricultural soil by copper in Aquitaine region by using French national databases

• Published in: The Science of the total environment 2012-12, Vol.441, p.239-247
• Main Authors: El Hadri, Hind, Chéry, Philippe, Jalabert, Stéphanie, Lee, Alexandre, Potin-Gautier, Martine, Lespes, Gaëtane
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions; Analytical chemistry; Applied sciences; Biological and medical sciences; Chemical Sciences; Copper; Exact sciences and technology; French databases; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Pollution; Pollution sources. Measurement results; Soil and sediments pollution; Soil and water pollution; Soil contamination; Soil science; Vineyard
• ISSN: 0048-9697; 1879-1026
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2012.09.070

A long-term application of copper-based fungicides to fight against downy mildew has led to soil contamination by copper particularly in Aquitaine region where viticulture is important. This work aims to statistically validate the origin of diffuse contamination of Aquitaine agricultural soils and show that contamination is closely related to wine-growing in this region. For this purpose, several national databases have been used. From the French National Soil Monitoring Network (Réseau de Mesures de la Qualité des sols RMQS) data, an Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA) was performed to bring out the copper contamination. The French test soil database (Base de Données des Analyses de Terre BDAT) and the national census of agriculture (Recensement Général Agricole RGA) have been crossed. A statistical approach has been used to determine the relationship between the median concentration of copper extracted by Ethylene Diamine Tetra-acetic Acid (EDTA) referred to as CuEDTA in cultivated topsoils of the Aquitaine region and the ratio between winegrowing area (Svine) and the Used Agricultural Area (UAA) expressed as the form Svine/UAA. The results revealed a strongly significant exponential correlation between these two variables. They allow concluding that at cantonal scale, when vines cover more than 80% of the UAA, an overexposure of soils to the diffuse contamination by copper can occur. ► National databases to assess the link between copper in soils and wine-growing areas. ► A statistical approach has established a significant exponential-based model. ► 50mgkg−1 of CuEDTA in topsoils is reached when 81% of UAA is covered by vines.