Soil heavy metal(loid)s and risk assessment in vicinity of a coal mining area from southwest Guizhou, China

Abstract

Total concentrations of arsenic, lead, cadmium, mercury, nickel, chromium, and copper in the soils from near a coal mine area in southwest Guizhou, China, were measured to evaluate the level of contamination, and the potential ecological risks posed by the heavy metals were quantitatively estimated. Results reveal that all heavy metals/metalloid exceeded the background values for soil environmental quality of heavy metals in Guizhou area. Geo-accumulation index (I_geo) showed that arsenic had the highest contamination level (I_geo=4) among the seven heavy metals/metalloid, and the contamination levels of mercury and lead were also relatively high (I_geo=3). Pearson correlation and cluster analysis identified that mercury, copper and arsenic had a relationship, and their presence might be mainly related to mining activity, coal and oil combustion, and vehicle emissions. Improved Nemerow index indicated that the overall level of heavy metal contamination in the studied area ranged from moderately–heavily contaminated to heavily contaminated level. Potential ecological risk index (R_I) analysis manifested that the whole ecological risk level ranged from high degree to very high degree (325.30≤R_I≤801.02) in the studied soil samples, and the potential ecological risk factors (E_rⁱ) of heavy metals/metalloid were as follows: Hg > As > Cd > Pb > Cu > Ni > Cr, and the E_rⁱ of Hg and As reached very high risk grade.

Keywords

heavy metals / soil contamination / ecological risk / coal mining area / Xingren county

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