Assessing the Risk of Total and Available Potentially Toxic Elements in Agricultural Soil in Typical Mining Areas in Xiangjiang River Basin, Hunan Province

Yang Yu,Lihuan He,Fusheng Wei,Guoping Wu,Haijiang Luo,Renji Xu,Yeyao Wang,Wenqing Liu,Haijiang Liu,Linlin Zhang

doi:10.3390/min11090953

Abstract

In this study, soil and rice samples from 85 sites in six cities in Hunan Province were analyzed for Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd, Hg, Mn, and Co (total and bioavailable concentrations for soil) in July 2014. The results indicated that the total concentrations of Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd, and Hg in soil had increased significantly compared with the 1980s, and were correlated with their bioavailable concentrations in soil positively. The total concentrations of Cd and Co in soil were correlated with those in rice. Bioavailable concentrations of Cd, Mn, Co, Pb, and Cu represented 64.4%, 33.2%, 12.0%, 11.6%, and 6.1% of the total soil concentrations, respectively. The bioavailable concentrations of Cd and Co in soil had a extremely significant (p < 0.01) positive correlation with those in rice, suggesting that bioavailable concentrations was a better indicator for soil potentially toxic elements contamination. The pH values had a significant influence on the bioavailability of Cd and Cu and the amounts taken up by rice. The Cd contamination in 27.0% rice samples exceeded World Health Organization recommended thresholds. The results added basic pollution distribution data, further revealing the relationships of metals in soil and crops and would offer great help to the metallic pollution control in these areas.

Highlights

Toxic elements contaminations (PTEs) of soil and crops have arised continuous and comprehensive concerns worldwidely due to the increase in Mining process [1].The soil pollution caused by mining affects the soil quality and results in absorption and accumulation of Potentially toxic elements contaminations (PTEs) in plants, which threaten the food safety of crops grown in polluted soil [2,3,4,5] and human health [6]
This study aims to investigate the relationship between PTEs in soil and in rice and the risk to human health in China
The mean concentration of Cd was higher than its screening value (Table 1), and the mean values of the total Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd, and Hg concentrations in the study area were higher than their background data (Table 1)

Summary

Introduction

Toxic elements contaminations (PTEs) of soil and crops have arised continuous and comprehensive concerns worldwidely due to the increase in Mining process [1]. The soil pollution caused by mining affects the soil quality and results in absorption and accumulation of PTEs in plants, which threaten the food safety of crops grown in polluted soil [2,3,4,5] and human health [6]. Mean concentrations of PTEs in the soil samples. Deviation Value Value a (mg/kg) Std b.

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