Trace element pollution derived from human activities in aquatic systems has raised widespread concerns due to its toxicity, persistence, and bioaccumulation. In this article, we presented a systematic investigation of the anthropogenic overprints on trace elements geochemistry in three streams of the human-impacted (agriculture, urban area, and abandoned mining), located at Lake Aha, Guiyang, Southwest China. Concentrations reported in the study demonstrated that the abandoned mining stream showed the highest trace elements (608.16 μg/L), followed by the urban stream (566.11 μg/L) and agricultural stream (457.51 μg/L). Nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS), used to display sampling dates and trace elements, showed discernible temporal variation in trace element concentrations. Trace element concentrations in months (May, September, and October) with less rainfall were higher than in June, July, and August indicated by NMDS. Principal component analysis (PCA) had shown that As, Ba, Mo, and Zn were mainly impacted by the urbanized streams, and Fe and Sr influenced by the mine. Risk assessment of human beings to trace elements demonstrated that As may pose a detrimental health risk. The research found that trace elements were potential tracers for the presence of human activities and environmental changes.

Heavy metals are of public concern in aquatic ecosystems due to their growing release from industries and mining activities. This study investigated the sources, temporal-spatial distributions and water quality of dissolved heavy metals (Mn, Co, Al, Ni, Ba, V, Sb, Fe, Sr) in the Lake Aha watershed, an area under the influence of sewage and acid mining drainage. These heavy metals displayed significant spatial and temporal variabilities. The water quality index results (WQI values ranged from 3.21 to 15.64) and health risk assessment (all hazard indexes are below 1) indicated that dissolved heavy metals in this study pose a low risk for human health. Correlation analysis and principal component analysis indicated that Fe and Sr mainly presented a natural geological feature in the study area, and Mn, Co, Al and Ni were influenced by the acid coal mine drainage, whereas Ba, V and Sb were under the impact of local industrial or medical activities. This study provides new insights into the risk assessment of heavy metals in small watersheds.

Anthropogenic rare earth elements (REEs), such as gadolinium (Gd), lanthanum (La), and samarium (Sm), have emerged as microcontaminants in surface waters. In this study, surface water samples were collected from the middle Yangtze River basin from the metropolitan region of central China (Wuhan). We further evaluated the REE characteristics and anthropogenic Gd contribution. The total dissolved REE concentration in the river ranged as 6.76–99.31 ng L–1, the lowest value globally. Furthermore, the Post-Archean Australian Shale-normalized REE patterns, the negative anomaly of Ce, and the positive anomaly of Sm, Eu, and Gd indicated that heavy REE enrichment occurred in the water body. The anthropogenic Gd (Gdanth) concentration in Fuhe River and Hanjiang River was higher than that in the other rivers, with the difference ascribed to wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) discharges. The total daily discharges of Hanxi WWTP (HX-W) and Sanjintan WWTP (SJT-W) effluent were 53.5 and 13.5 g Gdanth, respectively. These values equate to 31.1 and 12.7 g Gdanth d–1 for HX-W and SJT-W per million people. Therefore, the quantitative evaluation of Gdanth in natural water near large cities warrants more attention.

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Due to the rapid urbanization process, the consumption of trace and rare earth elements has dramatically increased. Although some elements have been extensively studied due to their high biological toxicity, most elements are ignored and taken seriously in recent years. Here, we investigated the urban geochemistry, source, and anthropogenic responding factor for 15 trace elements (Cd, Pb, Co, Sn, Cu, Ni, V, As, Mo, Sb, Al, Li, Fe, Zn, and Sr) and rare earth elements in surface water of the Suzhou city. The percentage of anthropogenic gadolinium vary from 46.9% (YCH-2) to 92.8% (WS-2), while the analysis of variance shows that human activities may affect the distribution of Cd, Co, Sn, Ni, As, Li, Fe, and Sr. Three clusters are obtained from the correlation and cluster analysis. The Cluster 1 with a significant positive correlation of Pb, Cd, Gd, Li, Sr, Co, Fe, Ni, and Sn reflecting these elements are dominantly influenced by urban sewage and industrial activities. The Cluster 2 (Zn, Cu, and Al) can be attributed to geologic sources, while the Cluster 3 (V, Mo, As, and Sb) indicate the combined action of agricultural and urban activities. The Gd versus Li plot showed a significant positive correlation, which can be used as a new indicator to trace the anthropogenic impact on urban waters. Overall, this study provides clear evidence that the content and distribution of Gd and Li are deeply affected by human activities in a high-tech industrial city (Suzhou), which can be regarded as emerging elements contaminations.