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Effects of land use on concentrations of metals in surface soils and ecological risk around Guanting Reservoir, China

Environmental Geochemistry and Health volume 29, pages 459–471 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

It is accepted that the historical routine use of agrochemicals may have resulted in undesirable concentrations of metals in the environment. To investigate and assess the effects of land use on concentrations of heavy metals around the Guanting Reservoir in China, 52 surface soil samples (depth of 2–10 cm) were taken from areas where four types of land use were practiced (including arable land, woodland, bare land, orchard land). The metals and metalloids (As, Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb) were analyzed using inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES). Significant accumulation of As, Cd, and Cr was found in soils of arable land. Based on correlation and cluster analysis, it can be concluded that Cd and Zn originate mainly from phosphate fertilizer, Pb from the use of insecticides, fertilizers, and sewage sludge as well as air deposition, and Cu from copper-based fungicides, while As, Ni and Cr might come from parent soil material. According to an ecological risk analysis of metals based on the ecological index suggested by Hakanson, the four types of land can be ranked by severity of ecological risk as follows: arable land > woodland > bare land > orchard land, with a high ecological risk of Cd for all four types. Management measures for land use planners for avoiding water, soil, and sediment pollution caused by metals around the Guanting Reservoir are presented.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the National Basic Research Program (the “973” Research Program) with grant No. 2007CB407307. The authors thank Dr. Xugang Luo, professor of animal nutrition in the China Agricultural Academy of Sciences, for analytical determinations of metal by ICAPES, and Dr. Tongbin Chen, Director of the Center of Environmental Remediation, Institute of Geographical Science and Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, for his assistance with lab facilities. The authors are particularly grateful to Dr. Guodi Zheng and Wei Gao for sample preparation. We also thank the reviewers for their comments on this paper.

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Affiliations

  1. Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 2871, Beijing, 100085, P.R. China

    Wei Luo, Yonglong Lu, Tieyu Wang, Yajuan Shi, Guang Wang & Ying Xing

  2. Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences & Toxicology Center, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada

    John P. Giesy

  3. Department of Zoology, National Food Safety and Toxicology Center and Center for Integrative Toxicology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA

    John P. Giesy

  4. Department of Biology and Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, SAR China

    John P. Giesy

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  1. Wei Luo
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  2. Yonglong Lu
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  3. John P. Giesy
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  6. Guang Wang
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Correspondence to Yonglong Lu.

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Luo, W., Lu, Y., Giesy, J.P. et al. Effects of land use on concentrations of metals in surface soils and ecological risk around Guanting Reservoir, China. Environ Geochem Health 29, 459–471 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-007-9115-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-007-9115-z

Keywords

  • Metals
  • Land use
  • Ecological risk