Characteristics and Source Analysis of Soil Heavy Metal Pollution in a Mining Area

It is of great significance to study the degree and source of soil heavy metal pollution in geological high background value area for remediation of local contaminated soil. The 0 - 20 cm topsoil was taken around the mining area, and the contents of Pb, Zn, Ni, Cd, Hg, Cu and As in the soil were measured. Single-factor pollution index, Nemeiro comprehensive pollution index and potential ecological risk index were used to evaluate the degree of heavy metal pollution and ecological risk. Finally, multivariate statistical analysis was used to analyze the sources of soil heavy metals. The results show that the measured elements are polluted to different degrees, mainly due to the ecological environment problems caused by extensive mining development methods and inefficient utilization of resources. The key link is the release of pollutants at the source. Effectively blocking the release at the source can cut off the possibility of pollutants entering the food chain and the circulation of materials in the ecosystem. The results of potential ecological risk index showed that the potential ecological damage of seven heavy metals was ranked as follows: Cd (97.67) > Hg (68.97) > As (14.29) > Pb (11.55) > Ni (4.62) > Zn (1.61) > Cu (1.45) had a high ecological risk coefficient, and the potential comprehensive ecological risk index was 200.16 and the degree was medium. Principal component analysis shows that the sources of heavy metals are divided into Pb, Cd, As, Zn and Hg mainly from human activities such As mining, while Ni and Cu mainly come from soil parent materials, mining and agricultural activities.

Environmental Threshold of Phosphorus Infiltration in Red Soil under Different Land Use Patterns

The risk of soil phosphorus leaching increases in basin regions in light of large-scale use of phosphorus fertilizers because of agricultural modernization. In this study, we conducted an earth pillar simulation test on the infiltration threshold of red soil, Vaseline-coated PVC pipe, intact soil core, fine sand, and nylon filter was used for Penetration test, which covers the largest area of the Dianchi Lake Basin in China. Results showed that: 1) The contents of the total available phosphorus in algae (NaOH-P) and dissolved labile phosphorus (CaCl2-P) in red soil were consistent with the content of available phosphorus (Olsen-P) under different use patterns manifested by the law of greenhouse > open field > grassland. Grassland had the highest phosphorus sorption index (PSI), followed by the greenhouse and then by the open field. 2) The leachate under the same use pattern had the characteristics of total phosphorus (TP) > particle phosphorus (PP) > total dissolved phosphorus (TDP) > dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP) > molybdate reactive phosphorus (MRP). The TP contents in the leachates of grassland, greenhouse, and open field were 0.46, 0.61, and 0.49 mg/L, respectively. DOP, TDP, PP, and MRP had similar contents, and their distributions in the three land types were consistent with that of TP. 3) Olsen-P had a significant correlation with TP, TDP, PP, and DOP in the leachates. Olsen-P of <40 mg/kg and PSI of >50 slightly influenced eutrophication. Moreover, Olsen-P of >40 and <70.90 mg/kg and PSI of >40 had minimal influence on the environment. Olsen-P of >70.90 mg/kg and PSI of <30 significantly influenced eutrophication in Dianchi Lake Basin. 4) When Olsen-P was >26.09 mg/kg, the TP content in the leachate increased sharply.

Heavy Metal Characteristics and Comprehensive Quality Index Evaluation of Soil-Crop System in 11 Cities of Yunnan Province, China

Yunnan province in China is a high background area of soil heavy metals, and agricultural planting and industrial and mining activities are relatively frequent, which aggravate soil heavy metal pollution. However, at present, there are few reports on the overall or large-scale soil-crop pollution and risk assessment of heavy metals in Yunnan Province. This study through 11 cities in Yunnan province of China farmland soil-crop systems of heavy metal lead, cadmium content, enrichment coefficient is analyzed, and using the method of potential ecological harm index, index of compressive quality to evaluate heavy metal pollution soil-crop system risk. Results showed that the average content of soil heavy metal Cd and Pb were 1.31 mg/kg, 64.17 mg/kg, which are higher than the background value of Yunnan province. The average contents of Pb and Cd in the edible parts of crops were 0.20 mg/kg, 0.08 mg/kg. The average content of heavy metals in crops in Diqing (Pb) and Nujiang (Cd) was 0.72 mg/kg and 0.148 mg/kg. The enrichment coefficients of heavy metals in edible parts of crops were the largest in Diqing (Pb) and Zhaotong (Cd). The average value of ecological risk index of Pb element in soil is 2.79, which indicates that the study area is in a slight ecological hazard, the average value of the ecological risk index of Cd in soil is 126.43. The average value of the comprehensive quality impact index (IICQ) is 4.27, which indicates that the study area is moderately polluted. In this study, the contents of heavy metals Cd and Pb in soils and crops in different administrative regions were determined, and the heavy metals Pb and Cd in soil-crop system of Yunnan province, China were evaluated, it is expected to have important scientific and theoretical significance for the safe use of cultivated land to export safe agricultural products and promote the sustainable development of agriculture in Yunnan Plateau.