Abstract In mining areas, several potentially toxic elements (PTEs) are often released in excess quantities into the ecosystem; thereby, predisposing both human beings and the environment to pollution risks. The current paper investigated the pollution status and ecological risks of PTEs in groundwater resources from Ameka and its environs, southeast Nigeria, using several numerical and chemometric models. Both hand-dug wells and borehole samples were analyzed. The order of abundance of the PTEs in the waters was Co > Se > Cd > Ni > Mn > Fe > Zn > As > Pb > Cu, for both hand-dug wells and borehole samples. Environmental pollution risk assessment models such as the contamination factor, contamination degree, pollution index, pollution load index, Nemerow integrated pollution index, and modified heavy metal pollution index showed that 100% of the samples were highly laden with PTEs. Similarly, the ecological risk assessment showed that 100% of the samples pose very high ecological risks. Furthermore, the water quality index and integrated water quality index jointly revealed that all the analyzed groundwater sources in this mining area were unsuitable for human consumption. Chemometric tools such as factor analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis were used to establish the inter-parameter relationships. It was realized that both geogenic and anthropogenic factors are responsible for the enrichment of the PTEs in the natural waters. Therefore, based on the overall findings of this study, adequate treatment of the polluted waters before drinking is highly recommended.

中文翻译：

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尼日利亚东南部 Ameka 成矿区天然水中潜在有毒元素的污染和生态风险评估

摘要 在矿区，几种潜在有毒元素（PTEs）经常被过量释放到生态系统中。从而使人类和环境都容易受到污染风险的影响。本论文使用多种数值和化学计量模型研究了尼日利亚东南部 Ameka 及其周边地区地下水资源中 PTE 的污染状况和生态风险。对手挖井和钻孔样品进行了分析。对于手挖井和钻孔样品，水中 PTE 的丰度顺序为 Co > Se > Cd > Ni > Mn > Fe > Zn > As > Pb > Cu。污染因子、污染程度、污染指数、污染负荷指数、内梅罗综合污染指数等环境污染风险评估模型，修改后的重金属污染指数显示 100% 的样品都含有大量 PTE。同样，生态风险评估表明，100% 的样本具有非常高的生态风险。此外，水质指数和综合水质指数共同表明，该矿区所有分析的地下水源都不适合人类消费。化学计量学工具如因子分析和层次聚类分析被用于建立参数间关系。人们意识到地质和人为因素都是导致天然水域中 PTE 富集的原因。因此，根据本研究的整体结果，强烈建议在饮用前对受污染的水进行充分处理。