Assessments of levels, potential ecological risk, and human health risk of heavy metals in the soils from a typical county in Shanxi Province, China

A total of 128 surface soil samples were collected, and eight heavy metals, including As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, Ni, Zn, and Hg, were analyzed for their concentrations, potential ecological risks, and human health risks. The mean concentrations of these eight metals were lower than the soil environmental quality standards in China, while they were slightly higher than the background values in Shanxi Province. The enrichment factor, coefficient variation, and potential ecological risk index were used to assess the pollution and eco-risk level of heavy metals, among which, Cd and Hg showed higher pollution levels and potential risks than the others in the studied area. Moreover, multivariate geostatistical analysis suggested that Hg originated mainly from point sources such as industrial emissions, while agricultural activity is the predominant factor for Cd. The human health risk assessment indicated that non-carcinogenic values were below the threshold values. The total carcinogenic risks due to As, Cr, and Ni were within the acceptable range for adults, while for children, they were higher than the threshold value (1.0E−04), indicating that children are facing higher threat to heavy metals in soils. These results provide basic information on heavy metal pollution control and human health risk assessment management in the study regions.

[1]  Bo Gao,et al.  Pollution characteristics and health risk assessment of heavy metals in street dusts from different functional areas in Beijing, China. , 2015, Ecotoxicology and environmental safety.

[2]  J. Żukowska,et al.  Methodological evaluation of method for dietary heavy metal intake. , 2008, Journal of food science.

[3]  Shan Wu,et al.  Levels and health risk assessments of heavy metals in urban soils in Dongguan, China , 2015 .

[4]  Yanguo Teng,et al.  A geochemical survey of trace elements in agricultural and non-agricultural topsoil in Dexing area, China , 2010 .

[5]  Mark J. Nieuwenhuijsen,et al.  Human exposure modelling for chemical risk assessment: a review of current approaches and research and policy implications , 2006 .

[6]  M. McBride,et al.  TRACE ELEMENT CONTENT OF SELECTED FERTILIZERS AND DAIRY MANURES AS DETERMINED BY ICP–MS , 2001 .

[7]  Ming H Wong,et al.  Heavy metals concentrations of surface dust from e-waste recycling and its human health implications in southeast China. , 2008, Environmental science & technology.

[8]  A. K. Ray,et al.  Assessment of Godavari estuarine mangrove ecosystem through trace metal studies. , 2006, Environment international.

[9]  S. Dudka,et al.  Trace metal contamination of soils and crop plants by the mining and smelting industry in Upper Silesia, South Poland , 1995 .

[10]  Na Zheng,et al.  Health risk assessment of heavy metal exposure to street dust in the zinc smelting district, Northeast of China. , 2010, The Science of the total environment.

[11]  Lei Huang,et al.  Monte Carlo Simulation-Based Health Risk Assessment of Heavy Metal Soil Pollution: A Case Study in the Qixia Mining Area, China , 2012 .

[12]  D. Groneberg,et al.  Occupational medicine and toxicology , 2006, Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology (London, England).

[13]  Yongtao Hu,et al.  Development of the high-order decoupled direct method in three dimensions for particulate matter: enabling advanced sensitivity analysis in air quality models , 2011 .

[14]  D. Groneberg,et al.  Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology the Toxicity of Cadmium and Resulting Hazards for Human Health , 2006 .

[15]  E. De Miguel,et al.  Geochemistry and risk assessment of street dust in Luanda, Angola: A tropical urban environment , 2005 .

[16]  R. Zornoza,et al.  Multivariate statistical and GIS-based approach to evaluate heavy metals behavior in mine sites for , 2011 .

[17]  Yuyang Long,et al.  Bioaccessibility and health risk of heavy metals in ash from the incineration of different e-waste residues , 2015, Environmental Science and Pollution Research.

[18]  R. Sutherland.  Bed sediment-associated trace metals in an urban stream, Oahu, Hawaii , 2000 .

[19]  Qiuyun Zhang,et al.  Concentration and transportation of heavy metals in vegetables and risk assessment of human exposure to bioaccessible heavy metals in soil near a waste-incinerator site, South China. , 2015, The Science of the total environment.

[20]  A. Gholami,et al.  Geochemical assessment of steel smelter-impacted urban soils, Ahvaz, Iran , 2015 .

[21]  A. Nema,et al.  Heavy metals assessment in urban soil around industrial clusters in Ghaziabad, India: probabilistic health risk approach. , 2013, Ecotoxicology and environmental safety.

[22]  A. Kabata-Pendias,et al.  Trace Elements from Soil to Human , 2007 .

[23]  B. Zheng,et al.  Health risks of children's cumulative and aggregative exposure to metals and metalloids in a typical urban environment in China. , 2016, Chemosphere.

[24]  C. Erratico,et al.  Assessment of the environmental significance of heavy metal pollution in surficial sediments of the River Po. , 2007, Chemosphere.

[25]  Shenggao Lu,et al.  Spatial distribution, source identification and affecting factors of heavy metals contamination in urban–suburban soils of Lishui city, China , 2011 .

[26]  K. S. Subramanian,et al.  A multi-element profile of housedust in relation to exterior dust and soils in the city of Ottawa, Canada. , 2001, The Science of the total environment.

[27]  R. Flores-Ramírez,et al.  Human health risks associated with heavy metals in soil in different areas of San Luis Potosí, México , 2016 .

[28]  Qixing Zhou,et al.  Spatial, sources and risk assessment of heavy metal contamination of urban soils in typical regions of Shenyang, China. , 2010, Journal of hazardous materials.

[29]  Jinsheng Wang,et al.  Contamination features and health risk of soil heavy metals in China. , 2015, The Science of the total environment.

[30]  Yang Wang,et al.  Multivariate and geostatistical analyses of the spatial distribution and sources of heavy metals in agricultural soil in Dehui, Northeast China. , 2013, Chemosphere.

[31]  Multi-scale assessment of metal contamination in residential soil and soil fauna: A case study in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan region, USA , 2015 .

[32]  Jerome O. Nriagu,et al.  A History of Global Metal Pollution , 1996, Science.

[33]  W. Wenfeng,et al.  Distribution Characteristics of Sulfur and the Main Harmful Trace Elements in China's Coal , 2008 .

[34]  L. Chai,et al.  Environmental impact and site-specific human health risks of chromium in the vicinity of a ferro-alloy manufactory, China. , 2011, Journal of hazardous materials.

[35]  Li-bo Pan,et al.  Gridded Field Observations of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Soils From a Typical County in Shanxi Province, China , 2015, Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology.

[36]  Zongwei Ma,et al.  A review of soil heavy metal pollution from mines in China: pollution and health risk assessment. , 2014, The Science of the total environment.

[37]  L. Håkanson.  An ecological risk index for aquatic pollution control.a sedimentological approach , 1980 .

[38]  X. Qing,et al.  Assessment of heavy metal pollution and human health risk in urban soils of steel industrial city (Anshan), Liaoning, Northeast China. , 2015, Ecotoxicology and environmental safety.

[39]  Rongshu Zeng,et al.  Distribution of potentially hazardous trace elements in coals from Shanxi province, China , 2004 .

[40]  Tao Chen,et al.  Identification of trace element sources and associated risk assessment in vegetable soils of the urban-rural transitional area of Hangzhou, China. , 2008, Environmental pollution.

[41]  Steve Selvin,et al.  Increased Mortality from Lung Cancer and Bronchiectasis in Young Adults after Exposure to Arsenic in Utero and in Early Childhood , 2006, Environmental health perspectives.

[42]  H. Shan,et al.  Assessment of soil contamination with Cd, Pb and Zn and source identification in the area around the Huludao Zinc Plant. , 2010, Journal of hazardous materials.

[43]  B. Brunekreef,et al.  Estimated soil ingestion by children. , 1990, Environmental research.

[44]  J. Hao,et al.  Trend and characteristics of atmospheric emissions of Hg, As, and Se from coal combustion in China, 1980–2007 , 2010 .

[45]  Yuwen Wang,et al.  Contamination and risk of heavy metals in soils and sediments from a typical plastic waste recycling area in North China. , 2015, Ecotoxicology and environmental safety.

[46]  Siyue Li,et al.  Assessing soil heavy metal pollution in the water-level-fluctuation zone of the Three Gorges Reservoir, China. , 2011, Journal of hazardous materials.

[47]  Fa-sheng Li,et al.  Source identification and health risk assessment of metals in urban soils around the Tanggu chemical industrial district, Tianjin, China. , 2014, The Science of the total environment.