Spatial heterogeneity of heavy metal contamination in soils and plants in Hefei, China

The contamination of soil and plants with heavy metals, which has detrimental influences on plant growth, water purification, and food safety, has emerged as a serious global issue. To better understand the spatial variations of contamination of heavy metals associated city development and land use types, we collected soil samples and Magnolia grandiflora branches to quantify lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) contents of the roadside, industrial, residential, and park greenbelts in Hefei City, China. We found that Pb content in soil was the highest in roadside greenbelts and the lowest in parks with industrial and residential greenbelts being intermediate, while Cd in soil was the highest in greenbelts close to city center and decreased with the distance to city center. Pb in M. grandiflora, however, did not differ among greenbelt types but decreased with distance to the city center. Cd in M. grandiflora was the highest in roadside and lowest in parks and also decreased with the distance to the city center. Across all greenbelt types and the distances to the city center, Pb and Cd contents were positively correlated in soil and plants. Our findings suggest that vehicle traffic, population density, and age of urbanization collectively contribute to soil and plant contamination of Pb and Cd.

[1]  E. Baltrėnaitė,et al.  Anthropogenic effects on heavy metals and macronutrients accumulation in soil and wood of Pinus sylvestris L. , 2011 .

[2]  C. Tucker,et al.  Evidence for a significant urbanization effect on climate in China. , 2004, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[3]  Shuiping Cheng.  Heavy metals in plants and phytoremediation , 2003, Environmental science and pollution research international.

[4]  W. Wenzel,et al.  Role of Plant Genotype and Soil Conditions in Symbiotic Plant-Microbe Interactions for Adaptation of Plants to Cadmium-Polluted Soils , 2015, Water, Air, & Soil Pollution.

[5]  A. J. Hernández,et al.  Relationship between plant biodiversity and heavy metal bioavailability in grasslands overlying an abandoned mine , 2008, Environmental geochemistry and health.

[6]  G. Zeng,et al.  Traffic-related heavy metals uptake by wild plants grow along two main highways in Hunan Province, China: effects of soil factors, accumulation ability, and biological indication potential , 2016, Environmental Science and Pollution Research.

[7]  N. Rajakaruna,et al.  Transfer of heavy metals through terrestrial food webs: a review , 2015, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment.

[8]  P. Hazelton,et al.  Evaluation of accumulation and concentration of heavy metals in different urban roadside soil types in Miranda Park, Sydney , 2016, Journal of Soils and Sediments.

[9]  P. Ahmad,et al.  Phytoextraction: The Use of Plants to Remove Heavy Metals from Soil , 2016 .

[10]  Review of regional carbon counting methods for the Chinese major ecological engineering programs , 2016, Journal of Forestry Research.

[11]  A. Peña-Fernández,et al.  Annual and seasonal variability of metals and metalloids in urban and industrial soils in Alcalá de Henares (Spain). , 2015, Environmental research.

[12]  Miriam Diamond,et al.  Assessment of lead, cadmium, and zinc contamination of roadside soils, surface films, and vegetables in Kampala City, Uganda. , 2006, Environmental research.

[13]  S. Sultana,et al.  Heavy Metal Pollution of Soil and Vegetable Grown Near Roadside at Gazipur , 2012 .

[14]  Hadley Wickham,et al.  ggmap: Spatial Visualization with ggplot2 , 2013, R J..

[15]  R. C. Macridis.  A review , 1963 .

[16]  Yong-guan Zhu,et al.  Trace metal contamination in urban soils of China. , 2012, The Science of the total environment.

[17]  M. Malek,et al.  Uptake of metals by plants in urban areas , 2016, International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology.

[18]  A. Meharg.  Trace Elements in Soils and Plants . 4th edition. By A. Kabata-Pendias. Boca Raton, FL, USA: CRC Press/Taylor & Francis Group (2010), pp. 548, US$159.95. ISBN 9781420093681. , 2011, Experimental Agriculture.

[19]  Hadley Wickham,et al.  Spatial Visualization with ggplot2 , 2016 .

[20]  G. Lear,et al.  Heavy metal soil pollution is influenced by the location of green spaces within urban settings , 2015 .

[21]  Horng-Yuh Guo,et al.  Remediation techniques and heavy metal uptake by different rice varieties in metal-contaminated soils of Taiwan: New aspects for food safety regulation and sustainable agriculture , 2010 .

[22]  Lars Jarup,et al.  Hazards of heavy metal contamination. , 2003 .

[23]  B. Frey,et al.  Heavy metal accumulation and phytostabilisation potential of tree fine roots in a contaminated soil. , 2008, Environmental pollution.

[24]  Y. Pei,et al.  Heavy metal concentrations and speciation in riverine sediments and the risks posed in three urban belts in the Haihe Basin. , 2017, Ecotoxicology and environmental safety.

[25]  J. Wong,et al.  Assessment of trace metal distribution and contamination in surface soils of Hong Kong. , 1997, Environmental pollution.

[26]  M. Asgher,et al.  Photosynthetic and growth responses of two mustard cultivars differing in phytocystatin activity under cadmium stress , 2016, Photosynthetica.

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

[28]  R. Singh,et al.  Variations in heavy metal accumulation, growth and yield of rice plants grown at different sewage sludge amendment rates. , 2010, Ecotoxicology and environmental safety.

[29]  Zeyu Ma,et al.  Analysis of Spatial Variations and Sources of Heavy Metals in Farmland Soils of Beijing Suburbs , 2015, PloS one.

[30]  Ruimin Liu,et al.  Heavy metals in urban soils with various types of land use in Beijing, China. , 2011, Journal of hazardous materials.

[31]  J. González‐Oreja,et al.  Interactions between plant and rhizosphere microbial communities in a metalliferous soil. , 2010, Environmental pollution.

[32]  N. Bahramifar,et al.  Fractionation and mobility of cadmium and lead in soils of Amol area in Iran, using the modified BCR sequential extraction method , 2014 .

[33]  A. McCumber,et al.  A geospatial analysis of soil lead concentrations around regional Oklahoma airports. , 2017, Chemosphere.

[34]  B. J. Alloway,et al.  Sources of Heavy Metals and Metalloids in Soils , 2013 .

[35]  M. Mcdonnell,et al.  Heavy metal accumulations in forest soils along an urban- rural gradient in Southeastern New York, USA , 1991 .

[36]  Guoping Zhang,et al.  The influence of pH and organic matter content in paddy soil on heavy metal availability and their uptake by rice plants. , 2011, Environmental pollution.

[37]  A. Kabata-Pendias.  Trace elements in soils and plants , 1984 .

[38]  G. Jiang,et al.  Research progress of heavy metal pollution in China: Sources, analytical methods, status, and toxicity , 2013 .

[39]  S. Al-Oud.  Heavy Metal Contents in Tea and Herb Leaves , 2003 .

[40]  M. Wong,et al.  Accumulation of lead, zinc, copper and cadmium by 12 wetland plant species thriving in metal-contaminated sites in China. , 2004, Environmental pollution.

[41]  G. Bonanno,et al.  Heavy metal bioaccumulation by the organs of Phragmites australis (common reed) and their potential use as contamination indicators , 2010 .

[42]  M. Turan,et al.  HEAVY METAL LEVELS OF MULBERRY (MORUS ALBA L.) GROWN AT DIFFERENT DISTANCES FROM THE ROADSIDES , 2012 .

[43]  Study on the Relationship Between Atmospheric Heavy Metal Pollution(Pb,Cd,Cu,Zn)and its Accumulations in Leaves of Urban Trees , 2000 .

[44]  R. Wanty,et al.  Environmental Effects on the Aquatic System and Metal Discharge to the Mediterranean Sea from a Near-Neutral Zinc-Ferrous Sulfate Mine Drainage , 2015, Water, Air, & Soil Pollution.

[45]  Li Wang,et al.  Potentially toxic metal contamination of urban soils and roadside dust in Shanghai, China. , 2008, Environmental pollution.

[46]  R. Sun,et al.  Assessment of Heavy Metal Pollution in Topsoil around Beijing Metropolis , 2016, PloS one.

[47]  L. Madrid,et al.  Concentrations of Potentially Toxic Metals in Urban Soils of Seville: Relationship with Different Land Uses , 2005, Environmental geochemistry and health.