Abstract
China’s socioeconomic transitions have dramatically accelerated its economic growth in last three decades, but also companioned with continuous environmental degradation. This study will advance the knowledge of heavy metal water pollution in China from a spatial–temporal perspective. Specifically, this study addressed the following: (1) spatial patterns of heavy metal water pollution levels were analyzed using data of prefecture-level cities from 2004 to 2011; and (2) spatial statistical methods were used to examine the underlying socioeconomic and physical factors behind water pollution including socioeconomic transitions (industrialization, urbanization, globalization and economic development), and environmental characteristic (natural resources, hydrology and vegetation coverage). The results show that only Cr pollution levels increased over the years. The individual pollution levels of the other four heavy metals, As, Cd, Hg, and Pb, declined. High heavy metal water pollution levels are closely associated with both anthropogenic activities and physical environments, in particular abundant mineral resources and industrialization prosperity. On the other hand, economic development and urbanization play important roles in controlling water pollution problems. The analytical findings will provide valuable information for policy-makers to initiate and adjust protocols and strategies for protecting water sources and controlling water pollution; thus improving the quality of living environments.
Highlights
China’s socioeconomic transitions have dramatically accelerated its economic growth in the last three decades, and companioned with continuous environmental degradation
The model used for As in this study explained 30 percent of the variance through eleven independent variables (R2 = 0.3) (Table 4), in which industrialization (IND), urbanization (URB), natural resource indicated by pyrite ores (NR) considering the high arsenic level in pyrite sulfide mineral, waste water treatment rate, and As pollution levels in 2004 were significant
Naturally-derived arsenic in alluvial sediments is the culprit for the water pollution in India, Bangladesh, and the western part of China; especially in Tibet [14]
Summary
China’s socioeconomic transitions have dramatically accelerated its economic growth in the last three decades, and companioned with continuous environmental degradation. Water is the source of life; China is facing serious shortages of water resources. The spatial mismatch between distributions of water resources, population, and economic activities has aggravated the water shortage problem [3]. Only 8% of China’s water resource is distributed in the populous North China Plain, which accounts for about 1/3 of GDP and 1/5 of the population. Severe water pollution issues caused by anthropogenic pollutant discharges, especially from heavy metals, further deteriorated the water shortage problem. Heavy metal contamination in water bodies can cause long-term human health risks creating significant consequences in Chinese economic development, and limiting environmental sustainability [6,7]. The number of scandals due to heavy metal pollution crises increased, such as lead poisoned hundred children through contaminated drinking water in Shaanxi Province in 2009, cadmium contaminated rice in Hunan 2013, etc. Given the academic and political concerns, investigating heavy metal water pollution and its driven forces has become a hot research topic
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