Contamination, Source Identification, Ecological and Human Health Risks Assessment of Potentially Toxic-Elements in Soils of Typical Rare-Earth Mining Areas

Jiajia Fan, Li Deng, Weili Wang (), Xiu Yi () and Zhiping Yang
Additional contact information
Jiajia Fan: Key Laboratory of Subsurface Hydrology and Ecological Effects in Arid Region, Ministry of Education, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710064, China
Li Deng: Ecological Environment Planning and Environmental Protection Technology Center of Qinghai Province, Xining 810007, China
Weili Wang: Third Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Xiamen 361005, China
Xiu Yi: Key Laboratory of Subsurface Hydrology and Ecological Effects in Arid Region, Ministry of Education, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710064, China
Zhiping Yang: Jiangxi Research Academy of Ecological Civilization, Nanchang 330036, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 22, 1-17

Abstract: The mining and leaching processes of rare-earth mines can include the entry of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) into the environment, causing ecological risks and endangering human health. However, the identification of ecological risks and sources of PTEs in rare-earth mining areas is less comprehensive. Hence, we determine the PTE (Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, Zn, V) content in soils around rare-earth mining areas in the south and analyze the ecological health risks, distribution characteristics, and sources of PTEs in the study area using various indices and models. The results showed that the average concentrations of Co, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn were higher than the soil background values, with a maximum of 1.62 times. The spatial distribution of PTEs was not homogeneous and the hot spots were mostly located near roads and mining areas. The ecological risk index and the non-carcinogenic index showed that the contribution was mainly from Co, Pb, and Cr, which accounted for more than 90%. Correlation analysis and PMF models indicated that eight PTEs were positively correlated, and rare-earth mining operations (concentration of 22.85%) may have caused Pb and Cu enrichment in soils in the area, while other anthropogenic sources of pollution were industrial emissions and agricultural pollution. The results of the study can provide a scientific basis for environmental-pollution assessment and prevention in rare-earth mining cities.

Keywords: potentially toxic elements; mining areas; source allocation; human health risks (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/22/15105/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/22/15105/ (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:19:y:2022:i:22:p:15105-:d:974454

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 ().