Priority control factors for heavy metal groundwater contamination in peninsula regions based on source-oriented health risk assessment

Yujie Pan; Hongxia Peng; Qingqin Hou; Ke Peng; Huanhuan Shi; Simiao Wang; Wuhuan Zhang; Min Zeng; Changsheng Huang; Letian Xu; Pengcheng Pi

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.165062

Priority control factors for heavy metal groundwater contamination in peninsula regions based on source-oriented health risk assessment

Sci Total Environ. 2023 Oct 10:894:165062. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.165062. Epub 2023 Jun 20.

Authors

Yujie Pan¹, Hongxia Peng², Qingqin Hou³, Ke Peng⁴, Huanhuan Shi⁵, Simiao Wang⁶, Wuhuan Zhang⁷, Min Zeng⁸, Changsheng Huang⁹, Letian Xu³, Pengcheng Pi³

Affiliations

¹ College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China; Hubei Key Laboratory of Regional Ecology and Environmental Change, School of Geography and Information Engineering, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, China.
² Hubei Key Laboratory of Regional Ecology and Environmental Change, School of Geography and Information Engineering, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, China. Electronic address: penghx@cug.edu.cn.
³ Hubei Key Laboratory of Regional Ecology and Environmental Change, School of Geography and Information Engineering, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, China.
⁴ Survey Affairs Center for Natural Resources and Planning of Yongzhou City, Yongzhou 425000, China.
⁵ School of Environmental Studies, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430000, China.
⁶ College of Information Science and Engineering, Northeastern University, Shenyang 314001, China.
⁷ Department of Engineering Systems and Environment, University of Virginia, Charlottesville 22904, United States.
⁸ Wuhan Center of Geological Survey of China Geological Survey, Wuhan 430205, China. Electronic address: cengmin@mail.cgs.gov.cn.
⁹ Wuhan Center of Geological Survey of China Geological Survey, Wuhan 430205, China.

PMID: 37348717
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.165062

Abstract

Peninsula regions in China face serious environmental issues, such as heavy metal (HM) groundwater contamination. However, attempts to investigate the pollution sources and health risks of HM contamination in such regions require considerable resources and costs. Moreover, the priority control factors for groundwater HMs remain unclear. In this study, absolute principal component score/multiple linear regression (APCS/MLR) was used to quantify the groundwater pollution sources of typical peninsular areas in China, and a health risk assessment (HRA) was performed to assess the health risks caused by different sources. The results showed that the concentrations of Mn and Fe were higher than those of other HMs, and HM pollution was high in shallow groundwater. The dominant source of HMs in groundwater was agricultural activities (31.12 %), followed by natural sources (26.33 %), industrial activities (22.47 %), and atmospheric deposition (20.09 %). The non-carcinogenic risks to residents were acceptable, whereas the carcinogenic risks were high. Agricultural sources, atmospheric deposition sources, and Cr and As were identified as the priority control factors for HM groundwater contamination. This study has implications for improving the control of groundwater HM contamination in peninsula regions and ensuring sustainable groundwater development.

Keywords: Absolute principal component score/multiple linear regression; Agricultural activity; Carcinogenic risk; Contamination; Source apportionment.

MeSH terms

Agriculture
China
Environmental Monitoring
Groundwater*
Metals, Heavy* / analysis
Risk Assessment
Soil
Soil Pollutants* / analysis

Substances

Metals, Heavy
Soil Pollutants
Soil