Enrichment, Source Apportionment and Health Risk Assessment of Soil Potentially Harmful Elements Associated with Different Land Use in Coastal Tidelands Reclamation Area, Eastern China

Xinjian Chen, Sihua Huang, Xuefeng Xie, Ming Zhu, Jianguo Li, Xiaohan Wang and Lijie Pu
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Xinjian Chen: School of Geography and Ocean Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
Sihua Huang: School of Geography and Ocean Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
Xuefeng Xie: College of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, China
Ming Zhu: School of Geography and Ocean Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
Jianguo Li: School of Geography, Geomatics and Planning, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou 221116, China
Xiaohan Wang: Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Lijie Pu: School of Geography and Ocean Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 8, 1-19

Abstract: Coastal tidelands are important ecological habitat resources and valuable resources for agricultural land reclamation. Enrichment of potentially harmful elements (PHEs) in soil caused by anthropogenic activity is an important factor implicated in the ecological deterioration of soil in China. A total of 54 soil sample sites were selected from a 30-year reclaimed tideland and an adjoining coastal wetland. Descriptive and multivariate statistical analyses were performed to describe the enrichment, source, health risk status of eight PHEs (As, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn) after long-term reclamation. Results indicated that after 30 years of reclamation, most soil PHEs are slightly enriched, whereas no serious threat of environmental pollution was observed. In the reclamation area, the enrichment of PHEs in the aquaculture land, industrial land, and cropland was relatively high compared with other land use types, such as tideland and halophyte land. The source analysis divided the PHEs into five categories: (1) Cu; (2) Co and Mn; (3) Cr; (4) As and Pb; (5) Zn and Ni. Cu was completely derived from natural parent materials and other elements were governed by both weathering of parent rock and human activities, including agricultural activities, industrial production, and transportation emissions. The health risk assessment showed that the soil PHEs potentially had no non-carcinogenic risk to the public, but there was an acceptable probability to have cancer due to Cr and As. Meanwhile, children are more susceptible to harm from the PHEs in soil than adults. According to the economic and social development situation in the coastal region, it is necessary to pay attention to the environmental threats of PHEs enrichment.

Keywords: potentially harmful elements enrichment; tideland reclamation; land use; health risk; eastern China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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