Assessment of the Health Effects of Heavy Metals Pollution of Agricultural Soils in the Iron Ore Mining Area of the Northern Piedmont of Mount Wutai, Shanxi Province, China

Dandan Wang,Qinghai Xu,Liwei Wu,Qingrong Zheng

doi:10.3390/su12051926

Dandan Wang, Qinghai Xu + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/su12051926

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Abstract

We have measured the concentrations of toxic elements (Cd, Pb, As, and Hg) in 29 samples from agricultural soils in an iron ore mining area in the northern piedmont of Mount Wutai in Shanxi Province, China. The aim was to evaluate the potential health risks to local inhabitants based on the health risk assessment model derived from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). The results show that the concentrations of the four heavy metals exceed their background values, especially in the case of Hg. The pollution level of the four heavy metals can be ordered as follows: Hg > Cd > Pb > As. The spatial distribution of the concentrations of the four heavy metals was uneven: pollution levels were lowest in the basin of the E River, and centered on the E River there was an increasing trend towards the Yukou River in the west and the Yangyan River in the east. In terms of the degree of pollution, this trend can be summarized as: Qingyang River > Yangyan River > Yukou River > E River. The main form of ingestion of the metals was via mouth and nose, and the risk to children is higher than for adults. Iron ore mining was the main cause of the increased concentrations of As and Cd, which represent a cancer risk for humans.

Highlights

Heavy metals pollution is a major environmental problem and poses a significant threat to human health [1,2,3]
The study area is the northern piedmont of Mount Wutai, which is in the northeast part of Shanxi Province in China (113◦10’ to 114◦00’E and 39◦00’ to 39◦15’N)
This study demonstrated that the concentrations of Cd, Pb, As, and Hg in agricultural soils in the Mount Wutai area of Shanxi Province were all higher than the background values; in addition, their spatial distributions were similar

Summary

Introduction

Heavy metals pollution is a major environmental problem and poses a significant threat to human health [1,2,3]. Heavy metals accumulate in the soil, water, and atmosphere, and they constitute a health risk. Their accumulation in agricultural soils clearly presents a major health risk [4,5]. The excessive accumulation of heavy metals in the environment constitutes a health risk for humans. Lead is the most pernicious heavy metal and can damage human brain cells, affecting the intellectual development of children and causing dementia in the elderly [9,10]. It is necessary to evaluate the health risk of heavy metals to humans, a topic that is of major societal concern and has attracted much research attention

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