Multivariate statistical evaluation of dissolved heavy metals and a water quality assessment in the Lake Aha watershed, Southwest China

Abstract

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.

Distribution, water quality, and health risk assessment of trace elements in three streams during the wet season, Guiyang, Southwest China

“…Nonmetric multidimensional scaling multivariate statistical techniques (principal component analysis [PCA] and Spearman's correlation analysis) and non-multidimensional scaling were performed for trace element analysis using the statistical software R. PCA, a useful approach of multidimensional datasets analysis, could reduce the dimensionality of the dataset to obtain meaningful, clear, and precise information (Gredilla et al, 2013;Gao et al, 2020). By extracting significant principal components (PCs) with eigenvalues > 1 via PCA, the association with Art.…”

“…Physical parameters, such as pH, DO, and EC, alter trace element distribution in the environment. Generally, pH could affect the dissolution and mobility of trace elements by releasing free metals through competition between the binding sites of metals and hydrogen ions (Gao et al, 2020). However, there is no significant relationship between pH and dissolved trace elements, except for Fe.…”

Distribution, source, water quality and health risk assessment of dissolved heavy metals in major rivers in Wuhan, China

“…With the rapid development of the social economy, industry, agriculture, medicine, and mining activities are increasing, which have seriously affected the quality of surface water worldwide (Gao et al, 2020;Wang et al, 2017;Zeng, Han & Yang, 2020). Heavy metals have the characteristics of toxicity, persistence and bioaccumulation, which cause environmental pollution to the water ecosystem and threaten human health (Cameron, Mata & Riquelme, 2018;Zaric et al, 2018;Zeng et al, 2019).…”

“…Heavy metals have the characteristics of toxicity, persistence and bioaccumulation, which cause environmental pollution to the water ecosystem and threaten human health (Cameron, Mata & Riquelme, 2018;Zaric et al, 2018;Zeng et al, 2019). There are two main exposure pathways (direct ingestion and dermal absorption) of heavy metals in water bodies (Gao et al, 2020;Giri & Singh, 2014). However, aquatic foods and plants as human food sources may also lead to the exposure of heavy metals in water (Krishnamurti et al, 2015;Qu et al, 2018).…”

“…Correlation analysis (CA) and principal component analysis (PCA) are common tools for studying heavy metals in water environment. They can better identify the natural or anthropogenic sources of heavy metals (Gao et al, 2020;Giri & Singh, 2014;Qu et al, 2018;Thuong et al, 2013;Wang et al, 2017;Xiao et al, 2019). Furthermore, heavy metal pollution index (HPI) was used to analyze the combined effects on water quality (Tiwari et al, 2015).…”