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Source identification and assessment of heavy metal contamination in urban soils based on cluster analysis and multiple pollution indices

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Abstract

Purpose

To identify the sources and levels of contamination with anthropogenically derived heavy metals (HMs) for appropriate pollution control. We quantified anthropogenic influences with respect to HM pollution in soil, based on multiple pollution indices and cluster analysis derived from the results of an annual nationwide survey conducted in Korea.

Methods

Contamination levels of HMs in soils were quantitatively evaluated using multiple pollution indices: contamination factor (CF), geo-accumulation index (Igeo), Nemerow’s integrated pollution index (NIPI), and pollution load index (PLI). Hierarchical cluster analysis was conducted to elucidate the correlations between HMs and contamination sources. A total of 2214 HM concentration data including six contamination sources were used to evaluate the pollution state of anthropogenic effects of HMs.

Results

The CFs for Zn and Cu revealed a broad enrichment of these HMs in all pollution sources. Scrap recycling sites (SRS) had the highest likelihood of pollutant distribution in soil surfaces. NIPI and PLI varied with the extent of anthropogenic activities or land use, especially in SRS, waste disposal sites (WDS), transport maintenance sites (TMS), and industrial sites (INS), and anthropogenic sources were divided into three discrete clusters: INS-TMS-LDS (land development sites), SRS-WDS, and vicinities of industrial sites (VIS).

Conclusion

Our results confirmed that soil pollution indices combined with cluster analysis were useful to identify sources of anthropogenic HMs in urban soil, as well as to assess the levels of HM contamination.

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Funding

This work was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER), funded by the Ministry of Environment (MOE) of the Republic of Korea (NIER-RP2017-259).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Soil and groundwater Research Division, National Institute of Environmental Research, 42 Hwangyoung-ro, Incheon, 22689, Republic of Korea

    Hong-gil Lee, Hyun-Koo Kim, Hoe-Jung Noh, Yoon Joo Byun, Hyen-Mi Chung & Ji-In Kim

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  1. Hong-gil Lee
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  2. Hyun-Koo Kim
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Correspondence to Ji-In Kim.

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Fig. S1

Spatial distribution map of investigated sites in Korea. (DOCX 369 kb)

Table S1

Mean and range of pH for each contamination source (DOCX 16 kb)

Nomenclature and Abbreviations

BC

background concentration

CF

contamination factor

DL

detection limit

HM

heavy metal

HMs

heavy metals

INS

industrial sites (classification of pollution sources)

Igeo

geo-accumulation index

LDS

land development sites (classification of pollution sources)

NB

Natural Background (concentrations observed in Korea)

ND

Natural Background (concentrations observed in Korea)

NIPIES

Nemerow’s integrated pollution index based on the environmental standard of soil contamination for Region 1

NIPINB

Nemerow’s integrated pollution index based on NB concentrations

PLI

pollution load index

SASSC

Surveys of the Actual State of Soil Contamination

SECA

Soil Environment Conservation Act

SRS

scrap recycling sites (classification of pollution sources)

TMS

transport maintenance sites (classification of pollution sources)

VIS

vicinities of industrial sites (classification of pollution sources)

WDS

waste disposal sites (classification of pollution sources)

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Lee, Hg., Kim, HK., Noh, HJ. et al. Source identification and assessment of heavy metal contamination in urban soils based on cluster analysis and multiple pollution indices. J Soils Sediments 21, 1947–1961 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-020-02716-x

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