Abstract
The investigation of the anthropogenic contamination by heavy metals of soils is very important for environmental planning and monitoring in urban areas. In the present study, surface soils (0-20 cm) samples from 167 sampling sites in Xuzhou (China) were collected in 2010 and analyzed for heavy metals including Zn, Pb, Fe, Mn, Cu, Cd, Sr, Ba Cr, Ni and Mo via inductively coupled plasma/mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Compared with their levels in natural soils of China, these metals investigated exhibited a slight build-up in Xuzhou topsoils. The multivariate statistical analyses including factor analysis (FA) and cluster analysis (CA) were performed. The obtained results enabled the identification of two main groups of metals, discriminating Ni, Mo and Cr from Zn, Pb, Fe, Mn, Cu, Cd, Sr and Ba. Signifcant associations between Pb, Zn, Fe and specific magnetic susceptibility (c) indicated that specific susceptibility can serve as proxies for these metals levels in Xuzhou urban soils.
Highlights
Heavy metals continue to receive increasing attention due to the better understanding of their toxicological importance in ecosystems and human health
Signifcant associations between Pb, Zn, Fe and specific magnetic susceptibility ( ) indicated that specific susceptibility can serve as proxies for these metals levels in Xuzhou urban soils
We have reported the PAHs and black carbon containation in Xuzhou urban topsoils [18,19]
Summary
Heavy metals continue to receive increasing attention due to the better understanding of their toxicological importance in ecosystems and human health. Multiple studies on heavy metal contamination in urban soils have been conducted in several cities including Beijing [3], Changchun [4], Guangzhou [5], Hangzhou [6], Nanjing [7], Shanghai [8], Xuzhou [1,9], Shenyang [10], Hongkong [11,12], in past several years. To the best of our knowledge, limited data have been reported on the relationships between heavy metals and specific susceptibility in Xuzhou urban soils [15]. The objectives of the present study were 1) to characterize the Zn, Pb, Cu, Ba, Ni, Mo, Cr, Mn, Cd, Sr and Fe concentrations in topsoils; 2) to examine the feasibility of using the magnetic susceptibility for the heavy metal pollution assessment of urban topsoils in Xuzhou
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
