Abstract
Trace element pollution derived from human activities in aquatic systems has raised widespread concerns due to its toxicity, persistence, and bioaccumulation. In this article, we presented a systematic investigation of the anthropogenic overprints on trace elements geochemistry in three streams of the human-impacted (agriculture, urban area, and abandoned mining), located at Lake Aha, Guiyang, Southwest China. Concentrations reported in the study demonstrated that the abandoned mining stream showed the highest trace elements (608.16 μg/L), followed by the urban stream (566.11 μg/L) and agricultural stream (457.51 μg/L). Nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS), used to display sampling dates and trace elements, showed discernible temporal variation in trace element concentrations. Trace element concentrations in months (May, September, and October) with less rainfall were higher than in June, July, and August indicated by NMDS. Principal component analysis (PCA) had shown that As, Ba, Mo, and Zn were mainly impacted by the urbanized streams, and Fe and Sr influenced by the mine. Risk assessment of human beings to trace elements demonstrated that As may pose a detrimental health risk. The research found that trace elements were potential tracers for the presence of human activities and environmental changes.
Highlights
Trace elements consist of metallic elements and metalloids
Principal component analysis (PCA) had shown that As, Ba, Mo, and Zn were mainly impacted by the urbanized streams, and Fe and Sr influenced by the mine
Among the eight investigated elements, the Water quality index (WQI) of all sampling sites from the three streams was lower than 50, which indicated it was suitable for drinking natural water
Summary
Trace elements consist of metallic elements and metalloids. They are of great importance for considerable technological devices such as electronics, catalysts, and ceramics (Vriens et al, 2017). Widespread trace elements pose threats to the aquatic environment (Zeng et al, 2015; Zhang et al, 2017; Liang et al., 2018). Trace elements in aquatic systems could occur through two pathways including natural processes and anthropogenic activities Natural processes such as erosion, weathering, and volcanism contribute to a certain amount of trace elements (Li and Zhang, 2010a; Liang et al, 2018). Trace elements that are discharged into the environment from human activities have been reported to significantly contribute to river pollution. The sediments could be contaminated by thallium or cadmium because of copper metallurgy/Pb–Zn smelting activities (Wang et al, 2020a) Few trace elements, such as Cu, Cd, and Mn, used for fertilizers or pesticides, may threaten water quality and human health (Li and Zhang, 2010b; Liang et al, 2019). It is worth noting that human activities have become important sources of trace elements in aquatic systems
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