Abstract
The arsenic contamination of soil causes a huge damage on human health and production of food. In this study, the arsenic pollution of the sea shore areas of Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, where marine sediment was brought onto the land surface by the 2011 off the Pacific coast of Tohoku earthquake tsunami was investigated. Seventy eight soil samples were collected from both the tsunami disaster regions and the non-tsunami disaster regions of each major river alluvial plain in Miyagi prefecture. The arsenic contents of those soil samples were analyzed by an atomic absorption photometer. The results showed that in each river alluvial plain, the average of the arsenic content of the tsunami disaster region soil is higher than that of the non-tsunami disaster region. Furthermore, the arsenic content of each alluvial plain soil and the tsunami deposit reflected on the geological features and the anthropogenic activities (mining, hot spring, etc.) in the river basins. These results suggested that the arsenic contamination of the soil of major river alluvial plains that were suffered from the tsunami disaster was enlarged by the tsunami deposit which accumulated arsenic in the marine sediments during long time period of the river flows.
