Ecological and human health risk assessment of tungsten and other heavy metal(loid)s in farmland around a typical tungsten mining area in southern Jiangxi, China

Qi Li, Li Tian, Xiaojun Zheng, Weijiang Chen, Buchan Zhou and Ming Chen
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Qi Li: Collaborative Innovation Center for Development and Utilization of Rare Metal Resources Co-sponsored by Ministry of Education and Jiangxi Province, Ganzhou, Jiangxi, P.R. China
Li Tian: Collaborative Innovation Center for Development and Utilization of Rare Metal Resources Co-sponsored by Ministry of Education and Jiangxi Province, Ganzhou, Jiangxi, P.R. China
Xiaojun Zheng: Collaborative Innovation Center for Development and Utilization of Rare Metal Resources Co-sponsored by Ministry of Education and Jiangxi Province, Ganzhou, Jiangxi, P.R. China
Weijiang Chen: Collaborative Innovation Center for Development and Utilization of Rare Metal Resources Co-sponsored by Ministry of Education and Jiangxi Province, Ganzhou, Jiangxi, P.R. China
Buchan Zhou: Collaborative Innovation Center for Development and Utilization of Rare Metal Resources Co-sponsored by Ministry of Education and Jiangxi Province, Ganzhou, Jiangxi, P.R. China
Ming Chen: Collaborative Innovation Center for Development and Utilization of Rare Metal Resources Co-sponsored by Ministry of Education and Jiangxi Province, Ganzhou, Jiangxi, P.R. China

Plant, Soil and Environment, 2024, vol. 70, issue 4, 229-244

Abstract: The ecological and human health risks of heavy metal(loid)s (HMs) in soils around tungsten (W) mining sites have often disregarded the presence of W. In this study, we aimed to investigate the concentrations of 10 HMs (including W and other accompanying elements) in 18 agricultural soil samples obtained around a W mining site in southern Jiangxi, China. Furthermore, we determined the contamination status, source identification, and ecological and health risks of HMs in soils. Our findings revealed that HMs were extensively accumulated in soils within the study area, with the highest mean concentrations of W found. W concentrations were above background values at all sites. Multivariate analysis revealed that W mining activities, including extracting and transporting W ore, were the primary source of HMs in the soil (61.40%). The ecological risk assessment revealed that the potential ecological risk across the survey area exhibited a high risk, and the cadmium (Cd) and W should be prioritised as control pollutants for soils around the W mine site. The human health risk assessment displayed that 73.43% of children with an unacceptable non-carcinogenic risk, and W contributed the most to the overall non-carcinogenic risk (42.32%), followed by Cd and arsenic (As). In addition, 22.03% of children and 13.4% of adults were under a significant carcinogenic risk. Overall, our findings emphasise the importance of considering element W in future studies investigating the contamination of HMs around W mining areas. As such, we calculated a safe limit value for element W in soil (141.01 mg/kg) to facilitate the conservation and development of soils in W mining areas in China. Our study provides valuable information for pollution prevention and soil contamination risk mitigation in W mining areas.

Keywords: toxic element; toxicity; soil remediation; hazardous waste; safety limit (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:caa:jnlpse:v:70:y:2024:i:4:id:344-2023-pse

DOI: 10.17221/344/2023-PSE

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