El análisis de riesgos para la salud humana, en el paradigma de la gestión de suelos contaminadosel caso de la Bahía de Portmán

Resum

The management of contaminated soils in Spain is mainly based on the concept of unacceptable risk as a legal obligation to protect human health. The analyses and management of the risks in contaminated soils involves a detailed physico-chemical and mineralogical characterisation of the contaminated materials, both at the surface and at depth, as well as of the processes that take place under current and future weathering conditions. The purposes of this paper is to study the implications of risk assessment for human health in the decision-making for managing the risk of a contaminated soil such that an acceptable/unacceptable risk be decisive in the selection of technologies for remediating said soil for a specific use. An example of remediation being undertaken in Portman Bay, located in the mining district of La Unión (Murcia, Spain), is given. As a result of the mining waste discharged directly into the bay for more than 30 years, Portman Bay became one of the most contaminated spots in the Mediterranean. From the Roberto washery (the biggest sulphate – pyrite, blende, galena – tailing washery in the world, which treated about 1000 tonnes/day), tailings were discharged by pipe directly into the western part of the bay, from where currents washed them towards the shore. During its service life, the Roberto washery discharged 60 million tonnes of tailings, made up of clay, quartz, siderite, magnetite, and the remains of sphalerite, pyrite and galena, together with metals and residues of the chemical reagents used in floatation. As a result of the dumping, the whole bay filled up with waste, which also extended into the Mediterranean Sea. The most affected receptors in this area are children, and the most important exposure route is the intake of solid particles, followed by dermal exposure and inhalation. The remediation project is based on the production of ad hoc technosols according to the detected risk