A combined model to quantitatively assess human health risk from different sources of heavy metals in soils around coal waste pile

Abstract

The heavy metals of soils around coal waste pile at Taoyuan coal mine (in Anhui province, China) has exceeded provincial’s background values, posing a serious threat to residents in the mine area. Quantitative evaluation on human health risks (HHR) from different sources of heavy metals can determine priority sources and help to reduce risks. Statistics, spatial distribution, and positive matrix factorization (PMF) were applied to identify contribution of sources, and HHR from different sources were quantitatively calculated by combining the HHR with PMF model. In this study, 37 samples were collected from topsoil (0–20 cm) around coal waste pile. Four sources were apportioned as follow: industrial activities (48.37%), transportation (22.44%), natural source (15.44%), and leaching from coal waste pile (13.70%). As for carcinogenic risk, industrial activities was the priority source. Moreover, the noncarcinogenic risk and carcinogenic risk for children were obviously higher than adults, and the main exposure pathway for adults and children was similar, mainly from oral ingestion. The combined model was effective to assess HHR quantitatively from different sources, thereby the outcomes of the study provide a better understanding and suggestions for pollution control and human health from sources.