Abstract
Heavy metals are known as an important group of pollutants in soil. Major sources of heavy metals are modern industries such as mining. In this study, spatial distribution and environmental behavior of heavy metals in the Jajarm bauxite mine have been investigated. The study area is one of the most important deposits in Iran, which includes about 22 million tons of reserve. Contamination factor (CF), the average concentration (AV), the enrichment factor (EF) and geoaccumulation index (GI) were factors used to assess the risk of pollution from heavy metals in the study area. Robust principal component analysis of compositional data (RPCA) was also applied as a multivariate method to find the relationship among metals. According to the compositional bi-plots, the RPC1 and RPC2 account for 57.55% and 33.79% of the total variation, respectively. The RPC1 showed positive loadings for Pb and Ni. Also, the RPC2 showed positive loadings for Cu and Zn. In general, the results indicated that mining activities in the bauxite mine have not created serious environmental hazards in the study area except for lead and nickel. Finding potential relations between mining work and elevated heavy metals concentrations in the Jajarm bauxite mine area necessitates developing and implementing holistic monitoring activities.
Highlights
Based on a study, soil contamination has always been a matter of discussion as an important environmental issue in both developed and developing countries, mainly because of the effects of soil pollution on changes in the land use patterns and due to the complicated cleanup processes once a soil is contaminated [1]
We analyzed the heavy metals concentration and their source in soil samples of the Jajarm bauxite mine, using multivariate statistical techniques combined with metal concentrations analysis and correlation analysis that has been proven to be an effective tool for source identification of heavy metals
The comparison of the mean concentrations of potentially toxic metals in samples with the average crust values for noncontaminated soil and average shale showed that the higher levels of contaminated metals are Ni and Pb compared to the average crust values
Summary
Soil contamination has always been a matter of discussion as an important environmental issue in both developed and developing countries, mainly because of the effects of soil pollution on changes in the land use patterns and due to the complicated cleanup processes once a soil is contaminated [1]. Heavy metals are especially of high importance as they are highly carcinogenic, toxic and persistent in the environment. Heavy metal contamination is a serious threat to aquatic systems due to their toxicity, abundance, persistence in the environment [4]. Their multiple industrial, domestic, agricultural, medical, and technological applications have resulted in widespread distribution of heavy metals in the environment which in turn has been raising concerns regarding potential effects on human health and the environment. As an anthropogenic activity, mining has facilitated the movement and distribution of heavy metals in natural formations. Cadmium concentrations (mg/kg) ranged between 0.01 to 0.25 in the study area which is lower than average crustal values (Fig. 8)
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