Study of a comprehensive assessment method of the environmental quality of soil in industrial and mining gathering areas

Abstract

Industrial and mining activities have been recognized as major sources of heavy metal contamination in soil. Here, we developed a comprehensive assessment method for the soil environment in industrial and mining gathering areas based on the pressure-state-response model. Using this method, we assessed the environmental quality of soil in a typical industrial and mining gathering area in Tianjin City, China. The results are as follows: (1) The comprehensive environmental quality index of the soil in the study area was 0.532, which corresponds to an alert state and shows that the soil environment is generally poor.(2) The pressure, state, and response indexes were 0.609, 0.634, and 0.163, respectively, which suggests that the pressure in the soil environment of the study area is barely acceptable, and the state is merely passable. Furthermore, the response measures are not ideal. (3) The low response index scores indicate poor production processes, low pollutant treatment level, and unsatisfactory level of management by the enterprises in the study area. (4) The distribution of soil risks was found to be inseparably related to that of contamination sources and land use types. Furthermore, the distribution was uneven to a certain degree. Finally, we propose recommendations for the optimization, adjustment, and management of typical industrial and mining gathering areas with petrochemical, metallurgy, and other heavily polluting enterprises.

Ecological Risk Assessment of Soil in Rapid Urbanization Area by Risk Regionalization

“…Rapid urbanization area is mostly located in mineral-rich regions, with high background values of metal elements. Ecological risk in these areas is strongly affected by human factors because of the high industrial and mining activities [7][8]. Contents, ecological effects, environmental effects, toxicology, and element background values of heavy metals should be considered for evaluating the ecological risk of rapid urbanization area.…”

Exploring the database of a soil environmental survey using a geo-self-organizing map: A pilot study

“…Detailed information about the spatial distribution of the regional soil environmental quality (SEQ) and pollution risks of heavy metals can provide fundamental information for regional environmental planning and environmental management. However, it is difficult to comprehensively assess SEQ for two reasons (Guan et al, 2016). One is for strong spatial variations of heavy metal content and other physical and chemical properties (Cai et al, 2010).…”

Method for Assessing the Integrated Risk of Soil Pollution in Industrial and Mining Gathering Areas

“…Industrial and mining activities have always been leading sources of soil pollution [ 1 , 2 ]. In China, mining and industrial gathering areas have been established and rapidly developed across the country.…”

“…In previous studies, the mines and surrounding areas were identified as sources and heavy metals were considered the most serious pollutants. The spatial distribution [ 2 , 13 , 14 , 15 ], risk assessment [ 2 , 13 , 16 , 17 , 18 ], and mobility [ 19 , 20 ] of pollutants in soils also provided important information.…”