Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Magnetic evidence for heavy metal pollution of topsoil in Shanghai, China

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Frontiers of Earth Science Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study presents the results obtained from magnetic susceptibility and heavy metal (Cu, Zn, Pb, and Cr) concentration measurements of soil profiles collected from arable land and urban parks in Baoshan District, an industrial district of Shanghai, China. The study focuses on the investigation of vertical variations in magnetic susceptibilities and heavy metal concentrations and on correlations between magnetic susceptibilities and heavy metal concentrations in soil profiles. The results demonstrate that magnetic enhancement in the surface layer of the soil profile is associated with increased heavy metal pollution. The enrichment factors (EF) and the Tomlinson Pollution Load Index (PLI-EF) are calculated for estimating the level of heavy metal pollution of soil profiles in the study. The significant positive correlations between heavy metal contents, enrichment factors (EF), Tomlinson pollution load index (PLI-CF), modified Tomlinson pollution load index (PLI-EF), and magnetic susceptibility (c) indicate that much of the heavy metal contamination in the study area is linked to combustion derived particulate emissions. The results confirm that the combined magnetic measurement and heavy metal concentration analysis could provide useful information for soil monitoring in urban environments. However, the use of magnetic technique to locate the heavy metal pollution boundary in the soil profile of this studied area should be confirmed by further geochemical analysis.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Angulo E (1996). The Tomlinson pollution load index applied to heavy metal “Mussel-Watch” data: a useful index to assess coastal pollution. Sci Total Environ, 187(1): 19–56

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blaha U, Appel E, Stanjek H (2008). Determination of anthropogenic boundary depth in industrially polluted soil and semi-quantification of heavy metal loads using magnetic susceptibility. Environ Pollut, 156(2): 278–289

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boyko T, Scholger R, Stanjek H (2004). Topsoil magnetic susceptibility mapping as a tool for pollution monitoring: repeatability of in situ measurements. J Appl Geophys, 55(3–4): 249–259

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Canbay M, Aydin A, Kurtulus C (2010). Magnetic susceptibility and heavy-metal contamination in topsoils along the Izmit Gulf coastal area and IZAYTAS (Turkey). J Appl Geophys, 70(1): 46–57

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cao L W, Appel E, Hu S Y, Yin G, Lin H, Röslera W (2015). Magnetic response to air pollution recorded by soil and dust-loaded leaves in a changing industrial environment. Atmos Environ, 119: 304–313

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • CEPA (Chinese Environmental Protection Administration) (1990). Elemental Background Values of Soils in China. Beijing: Environmental Science Press of China (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Chan L S, Yeung C H, Yim WW S, Or O L (1998). Correlation between magnetic susceptibility and distribution of heavy metals in contaminated sea-floor sediments of Hong Kong Harbour. Environmental Geology, 36(1–2): 77–86

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dearing J A, Dann R J L, Hay K, Lees J A, Loveland P J, Maher B A, O’Grady K (1996). Frequency-dependent susceptibility measurements of environmental materials. Geophys J Int, 124(1): 228–240

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duan X M, Hu S Y, Yan H T (2009). Relationship between magnetic parameters and heavy element contents of arable soil around Meishan steel mill, Nanjing. Sci China Ser D, 39(9): 1304–1312 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Hanesch M, Scholger R (2002). Mapping of heavy metal loadings in soils by means of magnetic susceptibility measurements. Environmental Geology, 42(8): 857–870

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hay K, Dearing J A, Baban S M J, Loveland P (1997). A preliminary attempt to identify atmospherically-derived pollution particles in English topsoils from magnetic susceptibility measurements. Phys Chem Earth, 22(1–3): 207–210

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heller F, Strzyszcz Z, Magiera T (1998). Magnetic record of industrial pollution in forest soils of Upper Silesia, Poland. J Geophys Res Solid Earth, 103(B8): 17767–17774

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoffmann V, Knab M, Appel E (1999). Magnetic susceptibility mapping of roadside pollution. J Geochem Explor, 66(1–3): 313–326

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hu X F, Su Y, Ye R, Li X Q, Zhang G L (2007). Magnetic properties of the urban soils in Shanghai and their environmental implications. Catena, 70(3): 428–436

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jordanova D, Hoffmann V, Fehr K T (2004). Mineral magnetic characterization of anthropogenic magnetic phases in the Danube river sediments (Bulgarian part). Earth Planet Sci Lett, 221(1–3): 71–89

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kapicka A, Petrovský E, Ustjak S, Machácková K (1999). Proxy mapping of fly-ash pollution of soils around a coal-burning power plant: a case study in the Czech Republic. J Geochem Explor, 66(1–3): 291–297

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lecoanet H, Léveque F, Ambrosi J P (2003). Combination of magnetic parameters: an efficient way to discriminate soil-contamination sources (south France). Environ Pollut, 122(2): 229–234

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liang T, Chen Y, Zhang C S (2008). Intertidalite sediment by using grid sampling method. Environ Sci, 29(2): 421–427 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Lu S G (2003). Chinese Soil Magnetism and Environment. Beijing: Higher Education Press (in Chinese)

  • Lu S G, Bai S Q (2006). Study on the correlation of magnetic properties and heavy metals content in urban soils of Hangzhou City, China. J Appl Geophys, 60(1): 1–12

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lu S G, Bai S Q, Xue Q F (2007). Magnetic properties as indicators of heavy metals pollution in urban topsoils: a case study from the city of Luoyang, China. Geophys J Int, 171(2): 568–580

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pang J H (1995). Change and evaluation of elements content in soil in Shanghai City. Trop and Subtrop Soil Science, 4(1): 47–52 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Petrovský E, Kapicka A, Jordanova N, Boruvka L (2001). Magnetic properties of alluvial soils contaminated with lead, zinc and cadmium. J Appl Geophys, 48(2): 127–136

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Petrovský E, Kapicka A, Zapletal K, Šebestova E, Spanilá T, Dekkers M J, Rochette P (1998). Correlation between magnetic parameters and chemical composition of lake sediments from northern Bohemia–Preliminary study. Phys Chem Earth, 23(9–3): 1123–1126

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rudnick R L, Gao S (2004). Composition of the Continental Crust. In: Treatise on Geochemistry. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1–64

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt A, Yarnold R, Hill M, Ashmore M (2005). Magnetic susceptibility as proxy for heavy metal pollution: a site study. J Geochem Explor, 85(3): 109–117

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sharma A P, Tripathi B D (2008). Magnetic mapping of fly-ash pollution and heavy metals from soil samples around a point source in a dry tropical environment. Environ Monit Assess, 138(1–3): 31–39

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shu J, Dearing J A, Morse A P, Yu L Z, Yuan N (2001). Determining the sources of atmospheric particles in Shanghai, China, from magnetic and geochemical properties. Atmos Environ, 35(15): 2615–2625

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sinex S A, Wright D A (1988). Distribution of trace metals in the sediments and biota of Chesapeake Bay. Mar Pollut Bull, 19(9): 425–431

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor S R, McLennan S M (1995). The geochemical evolution of the continental crust. Rev Geophys, 33(2): 241–265

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang B, Xia D S, Yu Y, Jia J, Xu S J (2013). Magnetic records of heavy metal pollution in urban topsoil in Lanzhou, China. Chin Sci Bull, 58(3): 384–395

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang X S (2013). Magnetic properties and heavy metal pollution of soils in the vicinity of a cement plant, Xuzhou (China). J Appl Geophys, 98: 73–78

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang X S, Qin Y (2005). Correlation between magnetic susceptibility and heavy metals in urban topsoil: a case study from the city of Xuzhou, China. Environment Geology, 49(1): 10–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang X S, Sun C (2008). Concentrations of anthropogenic Pt and Pd in urban roadside soils in Xuzhou, China. Front Environ Sci Eng China, 2(4): 475–479

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xia D S, Wang B, Yu Y, Jia J, Nie Y, Wang X, Xu S (2014). Combination of magnetic parameters and heavy metals to discriminate soil-contamination sources in Yinchuan—A typical oasis city of Northwestern China. Sci Total Environ, 485–486: 83–92

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang J, Liu C L (2002). Riverine composition and estuarine geochemistry of particulate metals in China—Weatheringfeatures, anthropogenic impact and chemical fluxes. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci, 54(6): 1051–1070

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang W G, Feng H, Chang J N, Qu J G, Xie H X, Yu L Z (2009). Heavy metal contamination in surface sediments of Yangtze River intertidal zone: an assessment from different indexes. Environ Pollut, 157(5): 1533–1543

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41001331), The Programme of Introducing Talents of Discipline to University (111 Project) and the Natural Science Foundation of Shanghai (Grant No. 15ZR1428700). The authors thank Professor Lu Ming and Zhou Limin of East China Normal University for their help with geochemical analysis. Thanks to Cashion for the language modification.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Urban Construction and Environmental Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200093, China

    Guan Wang, Jiao Chen & Yuying Chen

  2. State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200062, China

    Guan Wang & Weiguo Zhang

  3. Department of Geography, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200062, China

    Yuan Liu & Fangzhou Ye

  4. Department of Geotechnical Engineering, College of Civil Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China

    Feifan Ren

Authors
  1. Guan Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yuan Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jiao Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Feifan Ren
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Yuying Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Fangzhou Ye
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Weiguo Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Guan Wang.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Wang, G., Liu, Y., Chen, J. et al. Magnetic evidence for heavy metal pollution of topsoil in Shanghai, China. Front. Earth Sci. 12, 125–133 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11707-017-0624-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11707-017-0624-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation