Assessment of atmospheric pollution by potentially toxic elements in the urban areas of the Riotinto mining district Parviainen, Annika Jenni Johana Rosca, Carolina Rondón, Deyanira Casares Porcel, Manuel Martín Peinado, Francisco Xanthoria parietina Bioindicator Arsenic Lead Atmospheric pollution This work was supported by the BIMESUS project (E-RNM- 422-UGR20) funded by the University of Granada (Spain) and by the IMAGE project (EMC21_00056) granted by the Council of University, Research and Innovation of the Regional Government of Andalusia (Spain). Funding for open access charge: University of Granada / CBUA. Dr. Deyanira Rond´on thanks grant PTA2019-016727-I funded by MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and Dr. Carolina Rosca thanks grant PTA2022-021985-I funded by MICIU/AEI/10.13039/ 501100011033 and by FSE+. Ore mineralizations in bedrock and their exploitation may have a negative impact on air quality of surrounding urban areas and, subsequently, on human health. This study uses lichens as bioindicators of atmospheric pollution to evaluate the spatial distribution of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in the towns close to the massive sulfide deposits of the Iberian Pyrite Belt (IPB) in SW Spain. Altogether 89 native lichen samples of Xanthoria parietina were collected from the mining towns, control towns out of the reach of the mining activity, as well as from distal sampling sites. The samples were analyzed for 29 elements after acid digestion. The concentrations for Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Rb, Mo, Cd, Sn, Sb, Cs, Ba, W, Tl, Pb, S, and Fe are significantly higher in the mining towns in comparison to the control towns. The ore mineral-associated PTEs, including Cu, Zn, As, Ba, and Pb, exhibit extreme concentrations in the urban areas close to the mining activity, and particularly in the small settlement of La Dehesa next to the mineral processing plant and the tailings pond. The distal samples confirm the decrease in the concentrations of all PTEs, and these samples present similar values as in the control areas. The results, point at increased bioaccumulation of PTEs in the lichen thalli of the adjacent urban areas, suggesting that the air quality of the adjacent urban areas is locally impacted by the massive polymetallic sulfide deposits which is enhanced by the mining activity. Therefore, monitoring the urban air quality is recommended. 2024-09-10T10:40:25Z 2024-09-10T10:40:25Z 2024-07-21 journal article Parviainen, A., Rosca, C., Rondon, D., Casares Porcel, M., Martín Peinado, F.J., 2024. Assessment of atmospheric pollution by potentially toxic elements in the urban areas of the Riotinto mining district Chemosphere 363, 142906. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.142906 https://hdl.handle.net/10481/94284 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.142906 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ open access Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacional Elsevier