Evaluation of Soil Contamination Indices in a Mining Area of Jiangxi, China

Abstract

There is currently a wide variety of methods used to evaluate soil contamination. We present a discussion of the advantages and limitations of different soil contamination assessment methods. In this study, we analyzed seven trace elements (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Pb, and Zn) that are indicators of soil contamination in Dexing, a city in China that is famous for its vast nonferrous mineral resources in China, using enrichment factor (EF), geoaccumulation index (Igeo), pollution index (PI), and principal component analysis (PCA). The three contamination indices and PCA were then mapped to understand the status and trends of soil contamination in this region. The entire study area is strongly enriched in Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn, especially in areas near mine sites. As and Hg were also present in high concentrations in urban areas. Results indicated that Cr in this area originated from both anthropogenic and natural sources. PCA combined with Geographic Information System (GIS) was successfully used to discriminate between natural and anthropogenic trace metals.

Spatial Eco-Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals in the Surface Soils of Industrial City of Aran-o-Bidgol, Iran

“…Therefore, as background values change, the predicted extent of contamination and its associated risk change. An illustrative discussion is provided by Wu et al (2014) and references therein. According to Wu et al (2014), the most appropriate background values are concentrations which are restricted to the local scale; that's why our local concentrations were used as background concentrations.…”

“…An illustrative discussion is provided by Wu et al (2014) and references therein. According to Wu et al (2014), the most appropriate background values are concentrations which are restricted to the local scale; that's why our local concentrations were used as background concentrations. Therefore, the RI as a contamination assessment method relies on the definition of background values as well.…”

Introductory Chapter: How to Assess Metal Contamination in Soils?

“…The concentration of a metal(loid) reflecting natural processes uninfluenced by human activities [32] The normal abundance of a metal(loid) in barren earth material [6,53] Geogeneous or pedogeneous average concentration of a metal(loid) in an examined soil [6,54] metabolically with the nutritionally essential metal(loid)s, such as Fe, Ca, Cu, and Zn [26,27]. The ecotoxicological considerations expanded the list of hazardous elements including a total of 11 metal(loid)s (As, Ba, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Sb, Se, Tl, and V) [28].…”

“…The Clarke values in different reports slightly varied because these are hypothetical concentrations as computed using assumed proportions of various crustal rock types [6]. The ore minerals, which contain significant contents of several metal(loid)s in their crystal structure, are listed in Table 1.…”

A multi-elemental study to establish the natural background and geochemical anomalies in rocks from the Sonora river upper basin, NW Mexico

“…However, to obtain more realistic reference values, the using of elemental concentrations of either local or regional geochemical values is preferred by many authors (e.g. Kříbek et al, 2014;Wu et al, 2014;Zhang et al, 2014;Christou et al, 2017;Pan et al, 2017a;Pan et al, 2017b;Shang et al, 2017;Akopyan et al, 2018). Therefore, for the calculation of environmental indexes, particularly the enrichment factor, it is essential the using of conservative reference elements.…”