Spatial Distribution and Source Apportionment of Agricultural Soil Heavy Metals in a Rapidly Developing Area in East China

• Published in: Bulletin of environmental contamination and toxicology Vol. 106; no. 1; pp. 33 - 39
• Main Authors: Xu, Xianghua, Zhang, Xidong, Peng, Yuxuan, Li, Renying, Liu, Cuiying, Luo, Xiaosan, Zhao, Yongcun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Agricultural land; Agriculture; Anthropogenic factors; Apportionment; Aquatic Pollution; Cadmium; China; Chromium; Distribution patterns; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Environmental Monitoring; Heavy metals; Industrial development; Industrial plants; Intensive farming; Land use; Lead; Mercury; Mercury (metal); Metal concentrations; Metals; Metals, Heavy - analysis; Pollution; Principal components analysis; Risk Assessment; Soil; Soil Pollutants - analysis; Soil Science & Conservation; Soil sciences; Soils; Spatial distribution; Topsoil; Toxicology; Urban sprawl; Urbanization; Waste Water Technology; Water Management; Water Pollution Control; China; Urbanization; Industrialization; Spatial distribution; Soil heavy metals; Source apportionment
• ISSN: 0007-4861; 1432-0800
• DOI: 10.1007/s00128-020-03079-2

We collected 682 topsoil samples (0–20cm) from agricultural lands of Luhe County in East China, and analyzed the spatial distribution patterns and potential sources of four major heavy metals. High Pb and Cr were mainly in the southeast adjacent to the Yangtze River, and Cd were characterized by an increasing trend from northwest to southeast, while high Hg mainly occurred in the areas near downtown. Spatially-continuous sources dominated the soil heavy metal concentrations. Contributions of spatially-continuous natural source (soil parent material) to Cr and Cd were 97.0% and 77.7%, respectively, whereas contributions of spatially-continuous anthropogenic source such as diffuse pollution to Pb and Hg were 75.7% and 86.7%, respectively. The distance to factories was the most influential anthropogenic factor for localized anomaly patterns of Pb, Cd, and Cr, while the intensive agricultural land uses associated with the rapid urban expansion were particularly relevant to the anomaly patterns of Hg.