Assessment of Potentially Toxic Elements Pollution and Human Health Risks in Polluted Farmland Soils around Distinct Mining Areas in China—A Case Study of Chengchao and Tonglushan

Abstract

This research study investigates the extent of heavy metal pollution and pollution trends in agricultural soil in mining areas during different time periods. A total of 125 soil samples were collected from two mining areas in China, the Chengchao iron mine and Tonglushan ancient copper mine. The samples were analyzed for various potentially toxic elements (PTEs). The index of geoaccumulation (Igeo), pollution index (Pi), potential ecological risk index (Eri), and hazard index (HI) were calculated to evaluate the pollution status of PTEs in the farmland around the two mining areas. The sources of PTEs were inferred by pollution distribution, and the pollution conditions of the two mining areas were compared. The results showed that the pollution of ancient copper mines was relatively severe. The main pollution elements were Cu, Cd, and As, and their average Pi values were 3.76, 4.12, and 1.84, respectively. These PTEs mainly came from mining and transportation. There are no particularly polluted elements in the Chengchao iron mine and the average Pi of all PTEs were classified as light pollution and had a wide range of sources. The findings suggest that the ancient copper mine, due to outdated mining techniques and insufficient mine restoration efforts, resulted in the spread and accumulation of PTEs in the soil over an extended period, making the farmland soil around the ancient copper mine more polluted compared to the Chengchao iron mine. In the two mining areas, there is no risk of cancer for adults and children. However, the RI values of Cr in adults and children are higher than 10−4, which indicates that the carcinogenic risk of Cr in these soils is very high. The non-carcinogenic effects of PTEs on the human body in the soil of ancient copper mine are also higher than that of the Chengchao iron mine.

Biomonitoring of Potentially Toxic Elements in an Abandoned Mining Region Using Taraxacum officinale: A Case Study on the “Tsar Asen” Mine in Bulgaria

“…The observed concentrations of Cu in this study also exceeded 2 to 10 times the maximum permissible concentrations, reaching 2400 mg/kg. In addition, compared with other areas exposed to copper mining and smelting, the determined concentrations of Cu in our study were significantly higher than those reported in Germany-420.9 mg/kg [18], in Spain-642 mg/kg [56] and in China-1990 mg/kg [57].…”

“…27 Al(0.015), 42,43,44 Ca( 42 Ca-0.014; 43 Ca-0.013; 44 Ca-0.015), 54,56,57 Fe( 54 Fe-0.014; 56 Fe-0.015; 57 Fe-0.013), 23 Na(0.017), 24,25,26 Mg( 24 Mg-0.016, 25,26 Mg-0.015), 55 Mn(0.015), 39 K(0.017), 31 P(0.013), 46,47,48,49 Ti (0.012) Determined isotopes of micro-and trace elements *(Oxygen flow rate…”

A Literature Review of the Environmental and Health Risks of Copper Foil Manufacturing Plants in Relation to a New Facility Planned in Catalonia, Spain

“…Since mining copper is out of the objective of this paper, the environmental impact and the potential health effects derived from those activities have not been here reviewed. For those interested in that specific issue, the scientific literature contains recent articles where the state-of-the-art has been assessed [14,15,17,22,[62][63][64][65] .…”