Pollution Characteristics, Sources, and Health Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals in the Surface Soil of Lushan Scenic Area, Jiangxi Province, China

Abstract

Heavy metal pollution at tourist attractions centers has caused widespread concern. In this study, the concentration of seven heavy metals (Pb, Cu, Cr, Zn, Ni, As, and Mn) in the surface soil of the Lushan scenic area was measured, and their pollution characteristics were assessed using the Nemerow comprehensive pollution index and geo-accumulation index; further, the human non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks were evaluated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency health risk assessment model. Correlation analysis, cluster analysis, and a positive matrix factorisation model were used to analyse the heavy metal sources. The results indicated that the heavy metal concentrations did not exceed the pollution threshold levels. The hazard quotients for the six heavy metals (Pb, Cu, Cr, Zn, Ni, and As) are below the threshold for non-carcinogenic health risk, whereas the carcinogenic health risk in the region is at an “acceptable” level; however, because of the high contribution of As, the carcinogenic health risks to residents of this area require continuous monitoring. Analysis revealed six sources of the pollutants: soil parent material, altitude, surface accumulation of organic matter, industrial dustfall, local human activities (life and agriculture), and tourism. These findings provide a scientific basis for developing appropriate strategies for a sustainable development of the scenic area.

Characterization of heavy metal contamination in wetland sediments of Bosten lake and evaluation of potential ecological risk, China

“…The contribution of the second component (PC2) was 19.062%, in which As and Cr had high positive loadings, and the loadings of As were significantly higher than those of Cr. The study showed that Cr and As were significantly correlated with soil-forming matrices, soil-forming processes and geological activities (Zhang et al, 2022;Li W. D. et al, 2019), and the correlation between Cr and As was significant, and the contents of As in all the sample sites were much smaller than the background values of Xinjiang soils. Some studies have shown that As is significantly correlated with natural soilforming matrices or soil-forming processes, but natural leaching causes the whole As content in the surface soil to be continuously exported, which results in the topsoil As content being lower than the background value (Zhao et al, 2022;Chen et al, 2022), suggesting that PC2 is a natural background source, in addition to which the mean value of Cr is slightly greater than the background value of Xinjiang soils, and it also occupies a larger proportion in PC1, suggesting that in addition to the No.…”

“…Heavy metals are introduced to lakes from natural occurrences and human activities, including hydrological processes, erosion, atmospheric deposition, agricultural runoff, and industrial discharge (Merciai et al, 2014;Zhang et al, 2022;Ros et al, 2014). Most heavy metals settle in sediments, with only a minor fraction remaining dissolved in water (Liu and Dilinuer, 2014).…”

Carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic health risk assessment of organic compounds and heavy metals in electronic cigarettes

“…As not all substances have carcinogenic risk, this study only assessed the carcinogenic risk of substances listed by the IARC 13 or the Hot Spots Unit Risk and Cancer Potency Values from OEHHA 40 . The calculation formula is as follows: where CPV is the Cancer Potency Values published by OEHHA 40 ; DD is the daily dose; and SF is the carcinogenic slope factor 41 .…”

Status of Sustainable Balance Regulation of Heavy Metals in Agricultural Soils in China: A Comprehensive Review and Meta-Analysis

“…The balance consists of input and output fluxes of heavy metals. For input sources of heavy metals, the direct control of them can fundamentally diminish the accumulation of heavy metals in soil and the occurrence of soil pollution [17]. The accumulation of heavy metals in soil can cause irreversible harm to the soil environment.…”