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Occurrence and distribution characteristics of heavy metals in the surface water of Yongding River Basin, China

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Abstract

Yongding River is a vital socioeconomic zone in China in providing daily usage for humans, animals, and running of industries and agriculture. This study first provides a comparative assessment for the heavy metal pollution in the surface water from 82 estuarine locations along the basin, including the Guanting Reservoir and seven wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The occurrence, distribution, potential sources, and water quality relating to the detected heavy metals were addressed. Eleven typical elements (Pb, Cr, As, Cd, Sb, Ba, V, Ti, Zn, Ni, and Be) were investigated, and the results showed that all the measured concentrations were below the WHO guideline limits. Most heavy metals exhibited higher levels in the middle of Yongding River basin due to the discharge of WWTPs. Pb, Ti, Zn, and Cd in the surface water mainly originated from anthropogenic discharge, while Sb and V were mostly contributed to geogenic sources according to the principal component analysis. Three documented methods, water quality index (WQI), heavy metal pollution (HPI), and Nemerow pollution index (Pn) values, were used to evaluate the contamination monitoring of surface water. All the locations were classified as low and moderate risk except Y12, B2, and Y13 for their Pn values were higher than 1.0. The present study highlights the status of heavy metals in Yongding River basin which is helpful in providing fundamental data for assessment of water quality and the effective protection for Yongding River basin in the future.

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Funding

This research was financially supported by the National Major Science and Technology Program for Water Pollution Control and Treatment (2018ZX07111-002) and the Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, No.12 South Zhongguancun Ave., Haidian District, Beijing, 100081, China

    Jingqiu Jiang, Gaofeng Zhao, Lin Liu & Chengyou Liu

  2. Key Laboratory of Drinking Water Science and Technology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 18 Shuangqing Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100085, China

    Yiping Xu

  3. Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing, 100012, China

    Jian Zhao & Dewang Wang

  4. River Reservoir Management Service Center of Liaoning Province, Shisiwei Road, No. 5, Heping District, Shenyang, 110003, China

    Yunpeng Li

Authors
  1. Jingqiu Jiang
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  2. Gaofeng Zhao
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  4. Jian Zhao
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  5. Lin Liu
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  7. Dewang Wang
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  8. Yunpeng Li
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Contributions

JJ: data curation, formal analysis and writing—original draft preparation, conceptualization; GZ: supervision, project administration, writing—reviewing, editing and validation; YX: data curation and methodology, writing—reviewing and editing; JZ: investigation and data curation; LL: sampling and formal analysis; CL: investigation, sampling, and data curation; DW: methodology and visualization; YL: investigation, supervision, and project administration.

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Correspondence to Gaofeng Zhao.

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Jiang, J., Zhao, G., Xu, Y. et al. Occurrence and distribution characteristics of heavy metals in the surface water of Yongding River Basin, China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 17821–17831 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-16932-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-16932-6

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