Geochemical Baseline Values Determination and Evaluation of Heavy Metal Contamination in Soils of Lanping Mining Valley (Yunnan Province, China)

Zuran Li, Judith Deblon, Yanqun Zu, Gilles Colinet, Bo Li and Yongmei He
Additional contact information
Zuran Li: College of Horticulture and Landscape, Yunnan Agriculture University, Kunming 650201, China
Judith Deblon: BIOSE Department, Soil-Water-Plant Exchanges, University of Liège, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, 2 Passage des Déportés, 5030 Gembloux, Belgium
Yanqun Zu: College of Resources and Environment, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming 650201, China
Gilles Colinet: BIOSE Department, Soil-Water-Plant Exchanges, University of Liège, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, 2 Passage des Déportés, 5030 Gembloux, Belgium
Bo Li: College of Resources and Environment, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming 650201, China
Yongmei He: College of Resources and Environment, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming 650201, China

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 23, 1-18

Abstract: The largest lead/zinc mine in China is located in Lanping mining valley. The real impact of mining activity on the Lanping mining valley has not been studied to date. This study aims to characterize the geochemical baseline values and risk assessment of heavy metal contamination in soils of a study area located in the Lanping mining valley including upstream, mining and downstream areas. The results showed that the mean soil pH value was 6.8, and organic matter was 34.3%, in surface layer of the mining area. The mean soil pH value in the upstream and downstream areas was less than 5.5. The concentrations of Pb and Zn in the mining area were 56 and 47 times above the world average, the concentrations of Pb, Zn and Cd in the upstream area were six, seven, and six times above the world average, and the concentrations of Pb, Zn and Cd in the downstream area were eight, eight, and 18 times above the world average, respectively. The proposed geochemical baseline values of Pb, Cu, Zn and Cd were 169.93, 31.81, 569.06 and 4.13 mg·kg −1 , respectively. The pseudo total and ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA)-extractable concentrations of Pb, Zn and Cd showed similar tendency as follows: mining area > downstream area > upstream area. The contamination degree with the geoaccumulation index (I geo ) and the improved Nemerow index (I IN ) in the upstream and mining areas was non-contamination or slight contamination with low or moderate risk with the individual ecological risk index (E r ) and the comprehensive potential ecological risk index (RI), although moderate or heavy contamination with pollution factor (Pi) and the Nemerow index (I N ). The contamination degree with I geo and I IN in the downstream area was non-contamination or extreme contamination with low or extreme risk with E r and RI. The results suggest that the I IN should be recommended to assess the soil contamination of heavy metals and the geochemical baseline values would be important for the environmental management and remediation of soils contaminated by heavy metals.

Keywords: heavy metals; contamination; risk evaluation; geochemical baseline values; Lanping mining valley (China) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/23/4686/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/23/4686/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:23:p:4686-:d:290541

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().