Heavy Metal Contents and Assessment of Soil Contamination in Different Land-Use Types in the Qaidam Basin

Bayan Nuralykyzy, Pan Wang, Xiaoqian Deng, Shaoshan An and Yimei Huang
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Bayan Nuralykyzy: State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
Pan Wang: State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
Xiaoqian Deng: State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
Shaoshan An: State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
Yimei Huang: College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 21, 1-13

Abstract: Due to the unique geographical location and rapid development in the agricultural industry, heavy metals’ risk of soil contamination in the Qaidam Basin is gradually increasing. The following study was conducted to determine the soil heavy metal contents under different types of land use, contamination levels, and the physicochemical properties of soil. Soil samples were collected from facility lands, orchards, farmlands, and grasslands at 0–10 and 10–20 cm soil layers. Heavy metals including copper (Cu), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), zinc (Zn), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), arsenic (As), and mercury (Hg) were analyzed using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and the soil was evaluated with different methods. Overall, the average Cu (25.07 mg/kg), Cr (45.67 mg/kg), Ni (25.56 mg/kg), Zn (71.24 mg/kg), Pb (14.19 mg/kg), Cd (0.17 mg/kg), As (12.54 mg/kg), and Hg (0.05 mg/kg) were lower than the environmental quality standard. However, the Cu, Cr, Ni, and As were highest in farmland, and Zn and Hg were highest in the facility land. The Pb content was highest in orchards, and the Cd content was the same in facility land, orchards, and farmland. Among the different land-use types, the soil heavy metal concentrations decreased in the order of facility land > farmland > grassland > orchards. The pH was alkaline, the content of SOC (soil organic carbon) 15.76 g/kg in grassland, TN (total nitrogen) 1.43 g/kg, and TP (total phosphorus) 0.97 g/kg in facility land showed the highest result. The soil BD (bulk density) had a significant positive correlation with Cu, Cr, Ni, Zn, Pb, Cd, and the TP positively correlated with Cu, Zn, Cd, and Hg. The soil evaluation results of the comprehensive pollution index indicated that the soil was in a clean condition. The index of potential environmental risk indicates that heavy metals are slightly harmful to the soil.

Keywords: heavy metals; land-use types; physicochemical properties; soil contamination; Qaidam Basin (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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