Effect of Land Use Conversion on Surface Soil Heavy Metal Contamination in a Typical Karst Plateau Lakeshore Wetland of Southwest China

• Published in: International journal of environmental research and public health Vol. 17; no. 1; p. 84
• Main Authors: Sun, Caili, Zhu, Sixi, Zhao, Bin, Li, Wujiang, Gao, Xiaoye, Wang, Xiaodan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 20.12.2019; MDPI
• Subjects: Agricultural land; Agricultural production; Cadmium; China; Chromium; Conservation of Natural Resources; Conversion; Environmental health; Environmental Monitoring - methods; Environmental risk; Food chains; Food contamination; Geochemistry; Grasslands; Heavy metals; Humans; Humidity; Karst; Lake shores; Land pollution; Land use; Lead; Metals; Metals, Heavy - chemistry; Pollutants; Pollution; Pollution control; Pollution index; Pollution load; Principal components analysis; Risk Assessment; Sediment pollution; Soil - chemistry; Soil analysis; Soil contamination; Soil erosion; Soil Pollutants - chemistry; Soil pollution; Soil properties; Soil surfaces; Waste treatment; Water supply; Wetlands; Woodlands; Zinc; China; heavy metal contamination; ecological risk assessment; karst plateau; lakeshore wetland; land uses conversion
• ISSN: 1660-4601; 1661-7827; 1660-4601
• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17010084

Land use conversion could directly or indirectly influence heavy metal geochemistry by changing soil properties. The aim of this study was to explore the effect of land use conversion on surface soil heavy metal contamination in the karst plateau lakeshore wetlands of Southwest China. Based on this, a total of 120 soil samples were collected from 30 sites from different types of land uses (farmlands, grasslands and woodlands) around a lake in Suohuangcang National Wetland Park in August 2017. Contents of As, Cd, Cu, Cr, Hg, Pb and Zn were analyzed, and soil heavy metal contamination was assessed in all three land use types. Results showed that land use transformation from farmland to grassland or woodland was not conducive to the release of soil heavy metal. Surface soil of all three land use types have been moderately polluted by As, Cr, Pb, and Zn, and grassland and woodland also had moderate Cd contamination. The pollution load index (PLI) results revealed low heavy metal contamination in grassland and woodland but no contamination in farmland. Although the integrated contamination in the studied region did not pose a serious potential ecological risk (RI < 150), it might affect human health through the water supply and food chain. Therefore, it is necessary to monitor and control As, Cd, Cr, Pb, and Zn concentrations of surface soil through controlling pollutants, improving waste treatment, as well as strengthening supervision and management in the vicinity of the Suohuangcang National Wetland Park.