Distribution and Contamination Assessment of Soil Heavy Metals in the Jiulongjiang River Catchment, Southeast China.

Zhang Zhang,Han Han,Li Li,Liu Liu,Wang Wang,Liang Liang

doi:10.3390/ijerph16234674

Abstract

A total of 63 soil samples were collected from three soil profiles (yellow soil, red loam, red soil) from Jiulongjiang river catchment to investigate the distribution, controlling factors, and toxic risks of heavy metals, including Cr, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb, and Ni. The results showed that Cr and Cd in soils were enriched. The relationships between heavy metals and soil properties were assessed by principal component analysis. The results indicated that soil organic matter (SOM) played a fundamental role in controlling Cd and Pb in yellow soil and red loam sites. The Cd was significantly correlated with Pb and Cu, and Cr, Zn, Ni, Fe displayed strong correlations with each other, however, no statistical correlation was found between Cd and Cr. The enrichment factor and geoaccumulation index analyses showed that the soils in the study area were contaminated by Cd. Potential ecological risk analyses indicated that Cd posed a considerable ecological risk in yellow soils, and posed a moderate ecological risk in red loams and red soils.

Highlights

Heavy metals (HMs) have caused significant ecological environmental concern due to their toxicity and persistence
The natural concentration of HMs in soils largely depends on the parent materials, and its distribution is influenced by soil properties [42]
This study demonstrates the distribution and influencing factors of eight selected HMs, including Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Pb, and Ni, in soil profiles in Jiulongjiang river catchment and the conclusions are summarized as follows

Summary

Introduction

Heavy metals (HMs) have caused significant ecological environmental concern due to their toxicity and persistence. Heavy metal accumulation in soils is a serious potential threat to ecosystems [1,2]. Organisms in soil have the ability to accumulate HMs and to pose a threat to human health, such as hypophosphatemia, neurotoxicity, liver damage, and heart disease [3]. Examples of heavy metals include Pb, Cd. Tang et al reported that Pb and Cd are two of the most common toxic HMs which are related to cancers and malfunction of the nervous system [4]. High concentrations of HMs in soils may lead to ecological damage and threaten the health of humans and animals [11,12,13,14,15]

Methods

Results

Conclusion