Distribution, Risk Assessment, and Source Apportionment of Heavy Metal Pollution in Cultivated Soil of a Typical Mining Area in Southwest China

Abstract

The present study investigates heavy metal pollution and its sources in cultivated soils in Bijie City, Guizhou Province, China. The ground accumulation index method was used to evaluate the associated risks, while correlation, principal component, and positive matrix factor model analyses were used to identify sources. The results show that the overall contamination levels, except for Cd, were not serious. Agricultural materials, industrial activities, transportation, coal combustion and atmospheric deposition, parent rock, and irrigation accounted for 19.66%, 14.11%, 14.54%, 16.33%, 20.70%, and 14.67% of the total accumulation of metals, respectively. Copper, Ni, Zn, and Cr came mainly from parent rocks; Pb was mainly from traffic emissions; Hg was mainly from coal deposition; As was mainly from irrigation; and Cd was mainly from industrial activities. The main sources of soil metals were irrigation, agricultural activities, and coal deposition in the east and industrial activities and soil-forming parent rocks in the west.

Assessment of Heavy Metal(loid) Pollution and Human Health Risks Associated with a Mineral (Zn, Cu, and Sn Ores) Processing Plant in Yunnan, Southwest China

“…The study area is situated in a geological setting characterized by high levels of Cd, with predominant limestone exposures. The high Cd content in the soil can be attributed to the weathering of carbonate rocks [67,68]. Additionally, this weathering process tends to facilitate the enrichment of other elements such as Pb, Zn, As, and Ni [69].…”