Geochemical Characteristics and Ecological Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals in Surface Soil of Gaomi City

Zongjun Gao, Hongzhi Dong, Songtao Wang, Yuqi Zhang, Hairui Zhang, Bing Jiang and Yang Liu
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Zongjun Gao: College of Earth Science and Engineering, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266590, China
Hongzhi Dong: College of Earth Science and Engineering, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266590, China
Songtao Wang: The Fourth Geological Brigade of Shandong Provincial Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, Weifang 261021, China
Yuqi Zhang: College of Earth Science and Engineering, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266590, China
Hairui Zhang: The Fourth Geological Brigade of Shandong Provincial Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, Weifang 261021, China
Bing Jiang: The Fourth Geological Brigade of Shandong Provincial Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, Weifang 261021, China
Yang Liu: The Fourth Geological Brigade of Shandong Provincial Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, Weifang 261021, China

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 16, 1-15

Abstract: Gaomi City, the hinterland of Jiaolai Plain in Shandong Peninsula, was selected as the research object. A total of 8197 surface soil samples were collected to determine the contents of eight soil heavy metals (HMs)including Copper (Cu), Lead (Pb), Zinc (Zn), Nickel (Ni), Chromium (Cr), Cadmium (Cd), Arsenic (As), and Mercury (Hg). Statistical methods were used to find out the geochemical background (GCB) in the area, systematic clustering and factor analysis were used to study the homology between HMs, and single-factor evaluation method was used to evaluate the ecological risks in the study area. The results of the study show that the ecological risk of the surface soil in the study area is relatively low, dominated by a planar distribution, with only a few high-risk points. The uneven distribution of Hg in the surface soil is affected by human activities to a certain extent. The ratio of the GCB of the geological unit area to the GCB of the whole area shows that the Hg content of the Qingshan Group and Dasheng Group geological units is higher, and the Pb content in the subvolcanic rock area is slightly higher. The ecological pollution risk in the study area is generally low, and only exists individual high-risk areas, distributed radially in densely populated areas.

Keywords: surface soil; heavy metals; geochemical characteristics; ecological risk assessment; Gaomi City (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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