Source apportionment and migration characteristics of heavy metal(loid)s in soil and groundwater of contaminated site

Yaobin Zhang; Qiulan Zhang; Wenfang Chen; Weiwei Shi; Yali Cui; Leilei Chen; Jingli Shao

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2023.122584

Source apportionment and migration characteristics of heavy metal(loid)s in soil and groundwater of contaminated site

Environ Pollut. 2023 Dec 1:338:122584. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2023.122584. Epub 2023 Sep 20.

Authors

Yaobin Zhang¹, Qiulan Zhang², Wenfang Chen³, Weiwei Shi³, Yali Cui¹, Leilei Chen³, Jingli Shao¹

Affiliations

¹ Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Groundwater Circulation and Environmental Evolution, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing, 100083, China; School of Water Resources and Environment, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing, 100083, China; MNR Key Laboratory of Shallow Geothermal Energy, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing, 100083, China.
² Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Groundwater Circulation and Environmental Evolution, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing, 100083, China; School of Water Resources and Environment, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing, 100083, China; MNR Key Laboratory of Shallow Geothermal Energy, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing, 100083, China. Electronic address: qlzhang919@cugb.edu.cn.
³ The First Institute of Geo-environment Survey of Henan, Zhengzhou, 450045, China.

PMID: 37739256
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2023.122584

Abstract

The rapid industrial growth has generated heavy metal(loid)s contamination in the soil, which poses a serious threat to the ecology and human health. In this study, 580 samples were collected in Henan Province, China, for source apportionment, migration characterization and health risk evaluation using self-organizing map, positive matrix factorization and multivariate risk assessment methods. The results showed that samples were classified into four groups and pollution sources included chromium slag dump, soil parent rock and abandoned factory. The contents of Cr, Pb, As and Hg were low in Group 1. Group 2 was characterized by total Cr, Cr(Ⅵ) and pH. The enrichment of total Cr and Cr(Ⅵ) in soil was mainly attributed to chromium slag dump, accounting for more than 84.0%. Group 3 was dominated by Hg and Pb. Hg and Pb were primarily attributed to abandoned factory, accounting for 84.7% and 70.0%, respectively. Group 4 was characterized by As. The occurrence of As was not limited to one individual region. The contribution of soil parent rock reached 83.0%. Furthermore, the vertical migration of As, Hg, Pb and Cr(Ⅵ) in soil was mainly influenced by medium permeability, pH and organic matter content. The trends of As, Pb, and Hg with depth were basically consistent with the trends of organic matter with depth, and were negatively correlated with the change in pH with depth. The trends of Cr(Ⅵ) with depth were basically consistent with the changes in pH with the depth. The content of Cr(Ⅵ) in the deep soil did not exceed the detection limits and Cr(Ⅵ) contamination occurred in the deep aquifer, suggesting that Cr(Ⅵ) in the deep groundwater originated from the leakage of shallow groundwater. The assessment indicated that the non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks for children and adults could not be neglected. Moreover, children were more susceptible than adults.

Keywords: Chromium slag heap; Migration characteristics; Risk assessment; Self-organizing map; Source apportionment.

MeSH terms

Adult
Cadmium
Child
China
Chromium
Environmental Monitoring / methods
Groundwater*
Humans
Lead
Mercury*
Metals, Heavy* / analysis
Risk Assessment
Soil / chemistry
Soil Pollutants* / analysis

Substances

chromium hexavalent ion
Soil
Lead
Soil Pollutants
Metals, Heavy
Chromium
Mercury
Cadmium