Accumulations of Heavy Metals in Roadside Soils Close to Zhaling, Eling and Nam Co Lakes in the Tibetan Plateau

Xuedong Yan, Fan Zhang, Dan Gao, Chen Zeng, Wang Xiang and Man Zhang
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Xuedong Yan: MOE Key Laboratory for Urban Transportation Complex Systems Theory and Technology, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, China
Fan Zhang: Key Laboratory of Tibetan Environment Changes and Land Surface Processes, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Dan Gao: MOE Key Laboratory for Urban Transportation Complex Systems Theory and Technology, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, China
Chen Zeng: Key Laboratory of Tibetan Environment Changes and Land Surface Processes, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Wang Xiang: MOE Key Laboratory for Urban Transportation Complex Systems Theory and Technology, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, China
Man Zhang: MOE Key Laboratory for Urban Transportation Complex Systems Theory and Technology, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, China

IJERPH, 2013, vol. 10, issue 6, 1-17

Abstract: Concentrations of four typical heavy metals (Cu; Zn; Cd and Pb) in roadside soils close to three lakes in the Tibetan Plateau were investigated in this study. The hierarchical tree-based regression method was applied to classify concentrations of the heavy metals and analyze their potential influencing factors. It was found that the Tibetan Plateau meadow soils with higher content of sand lead to higher concentrations of Cu; Zn and Pb. The concentrations of Cd and Pb increase with road traffic volume; and for the road segments with higher traffic volume; the Cd and Pb concentrations significantly decrease with the roadside distance. Additionally; the concentrations of Zn and Pb increase as the altitude of sampling site increases. Furthermore; the Hakanson potential ecological risk index method was used to assess the contamination degree of the heavy metals for the study regions. The results show that accumulations of Cu; Zn and Pb in roadside soils remain an unpolluted level at all sites. However; the Cd indices in the regions with higher traffic volume have reached a strong potential ecological risk level; and some spots with peak concentrations have even been severely polluted due to traffic activities.

Keywords: Tibetan Plateau; heavy metals; traffic activities; hierarchical tree-based regression; potential ecological risk (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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