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Assessments of levels, potential ecological risk, and human health risk of heavy metals in the soils from a typical county in Shanxi Province, China

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Abstract

A total of 128 surface soil samples were collected, and eight heavy metals, including As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, Ni, Zn, and Hg, were analyzed for their concentrations, potential ecological risks, and human health risks. The mean concentrations of these eight metals were lower than the soil environmental quality standards in China, while they were slightly higher than the background values in Shanxi Province. The enrichment factor, coefficient variation, and potential ecological risk index were used to assess the pollution and eco-risk level of heavy metals, among which, Cd and Hg showed higher pollution levels and potential risks than the others in the studied area. Moreover, multivariate geostatistical analysis suggested that Hg originated mainly from point sources such as industrial emissions, while agricultural activity is the predominant factor for Cd. The human health risk assessment indicated that non-carcinogenic values were below the threshold values. The total carcinogenic risks due to As, Cr, and Ni were within the acceptable range for adults, while for children, they were higher than the threshold value (1.0E−04), indicating that children are facing higher threat to heavy metals in soils. These results provide basic information on heavy metal pollution control and human health risk assessment management in the study regions.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment (201520 and 201542), and Agricultural Non-point Source Pollution Control and Management Center. The research funding was supported by the “Major Science and Technology Program for Water Pollution Control and Treatment in China” and “Research of Key Technology of Promoting Suburban Agricultural Safety” program. We would like to thank all those who helped with the sampling.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Agricultural Non-Point Source Pollution Control and Management Center, Bei**g, 100012, China

    Libo Pan, Benying Su, Guangling Fang, Yue Wang, Lei Wang & Bao **ang

  2. Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Bei**g, 100012, China

    Libo Pan, ** Ma, Benying Su, Guangling Fang, Yue Wang, Lei Wang & Bao **ang

  3. Bei**g Normal University, College of Water Sciences, Bei**g, 100875, China

    Yu Hu

  4. Bei**g Municipal Environmental Monitoring Center, Bei**g, 100048, China

    Zhanshan Wang

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  1. Libo Pan
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  2. ** Ma
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  3. Yu Hu
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  4. Benying Su
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  5. Guangling Fang
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  8. Lei Wang
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  9. Bao **ang
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Correspondence to Bao **ang.

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Communicated by Zhihong Xu

Libo Pan and ** Ma contributed to the work equally and should be regarded as co-first authors.

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Pan, L., Ma, J., Hu, Y. et al. Assessments of levels, potential ecological risk, and human health risk of heavy metals in the soils from a typical county in Shanxi Province, China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 19330–19340 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-7044-z

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