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Effect of different industrial activities on soil heavy metal pollution, ecological risk, and health risk

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Abstract

Soil heavy metal (Cr, Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd, V, As) concentrations in different areas were analyzed to investigate the effects of different industrial activities on heavy metal pollution status, potential ecological risk, and human health risk in Panzhihua. Our results showed that Cu and V enrichment in soil was due to ore smelting. Soil Cr accumulation was related to coal ore mining. Soil Cd, Zn, As, and Pb enrichment was attributed to high-temperature coal combustion. Under the effect of industrial activities, soils were moderately contaminated with Cd, uncontaminated to moderately contaminated with As and Zn, and uncontaminated with Cr, Cu, V, and Pb. Soil heavy metal potential ecological risk was considerable, and non-carcinogenic risks and carcinogenic risks of soil heavy metals were acceptable for adults but unacceptable for children. Thermal power generation was the dominated industrial activity that influence the soil heavy metal concentrations and environmental risks in Panzhihua, which posed considerable potential ecological risks and unacceptable heavy metal non-carcinogenic risks and As carcinogenic risk to both adults and children. This study indicates that industrial activities have great effects on heavy metal pollution, ecological risks, and health risk, and more attention should be paid to the ecological risk and health risks brought by thermal power generation.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to express their gratitude to EditSprings for the expert linguistic services provided.

Funding

This study was supported by the Key Science and Technology Program of Sichuan Province (2018SZDZX0022), the National Key Research and Development Project (2018YFC0214001), and the National Natural Scientific Foundation of China (41977289).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Mountain Surface Processes and Ecological Regulation, Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, China

    Zhijie Long

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Zhijie Long

  3. State Key Laboratory of Geohazard Prevention and Geoenvironment Protection, College of Ecology and Environment, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu, 610059, Sichuan, China

    Yi Huang, Wei Zhang, Ying Chen, Chao Liu & Rui Wang

  4. Panzhihua Steel Group Mining Co., Ltd., Panzhihua, China

    Zhangliang Shi & Daming Yu

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  1. Zhijie Long
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Long, Z., Huang, Y., Zhang, W. et al. Effect of different industrial activities on soil heavy metal pollution, ecological risk, and health risk. Environ Monit Assess 193, 20 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-020-08807-z

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