Abstract
Anthropogenic activities may result in the accumulation of heavy metals in the soil, especially in economic development zones with frequent industrial activities. Therefore, the investigation and assessment of soil heavy metal pollution in economic development zones is one of the important measures for soil environmental management and sustainable development. This study used Nemero evaluation, Kriging interpolation, cluster analysis, and principal component analysis to investigate the contamination degree, spatial distribution, and origin of heavy metal in Anhui Chaohu Economic Development Zone (ACED), Anhui, East China. The result showed that different land use types can cause different levels and types of soil heavy metal pollution. The maximum concentrations of heavy metals in the study area all exceeded their background value but did not exceed the guide values. The highest average concentrations were found in Zn, followed by Cr and Ni. The concentrations of As in soils have the largest coefficient of variation (CV) at 38%. The concentration of heavy metals in different functional areas was varied, the areas with higher Ni, As, Cd, Zn, and Cr concentrations were mainly distributed in Hot Springs Resort (HSR), the relatively higher concentrations of Pb, Hg, and Cu were mainly distributed in Integrated Zone (IZ), while all heavy metal (except for Ni) have relatively higher content in the surface soil of Huashan Industrial Zone (HIZ). Origin analysis showed that soil As, Cd, and Zn in HSR surface soil were predominantly influenced by agricultural activities, while Ni and Cr were mainly controlled by parent material. Pb and Hg in IZ surface soil were predominantly originated from the vehicle and domestic exhaust, and Cu was mainly controlled by industrial pollutants. Industrial activity was the main source of soil heavy metals in HIZ. Although heavy metal in ACED surface soil did not reach pollution levels, the concentration of Cd, Hg, Pb, and Cu was significantly affected by anthropogenic activities, especially in HIZ, which the necessary attention of heavy metals needs to be given.
Highlights
It is well known that the soil heavy metal pollution may lead to various diseases to humans through the food chain and suspended dust [1]
The areas with a relatively higher mean value of all heavy metal was mainly observed in Huashan Industrial Zone (HIZ) and concentrations of soil heavy metal in Hot Springs Resort (HSR) and Integrated Zone (IZ) are lower than in HIZ
The regions with a high concentration of Cu and Zn were mainly distributed in HIZ
Summary
It is well known that the soil heavy metal pollution may lead to various diseases to humans through the food chain and suspended dust [1]. In the past several decades, with the development of industrialization and urbanization, anthropogenic activities such as coal-burning, metallurgy, mining, vehicular emissions, and agricultural activities have become major contributors to the accumulation of heavy metals in soils [5,6,7]. Soil heavy metal pollution has grown to be a major environmental problem in China, especially in the industrial and mining areas [8,9]. Economic development zones have brought economic progress, they have brought various environmental problems such as air, water, and soil pollution [11]. The problem of soil heavy metal pollution in economic development zones has not received due attention for a long time in China [12,13]. 33.162 ± 1.74a 166.5 ± 6.44a 65.812 ± 2.91a 32.592 ± 2.14b 0.231 ± 0.01a 33.915 ± 1.72a 0.27 ± 0.16a 10.419 ± 0.83a
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