Skip to main content

Ecological risk assessment and source apportionment of heavy metals contamination: an appraisal based on the Tellus soil survey

Environmental Geochemistry and Health volume 43, pages 2121–2142 (2021)Cite this article

Abstract

It is imperative to comprehend the level and spatial distribution of soil pollution with heavy metals to find sustainable management approaches for affected soils. Selected heavy metals (Mn, Zn, Pb, Cu, Cr, Ni, As, Co, and Cd) and physiochemical parameters were appraised for 620 samples from industrial, agricultural and urban sites in Northern Ireland using the Tellus database. The findings of this study showed that among the analyzed heavy metals, Mn content was the highest and Cd content the lowest. Pearson’s correlation analysis revealed that heavy metals were highly correlated with each other, signifying similar sources for the heavy metals. Mixed factors (anthropogenic and lithogenic) were responsible for the contribution of heavy metals as revealed by multivariate statistical analysis. The results of contamination factor and enrichment factor analyses suggest that As, Cd, and Pb showed very high risk for pollution in the study area. The geoaccumulation index revealed that with the exception of Cd, all analyzed heavy metals showed severe accumulation in the soils. The potential and modified ecological risk indices inferred that Cd, As, and Pb represented ecological threats in the soils of Northern Ireland. The findings of this study will aid in forming approaches to decrease the risks associated with heavy metals in industrial, urban and agricultural soils, and help create guidelines to protect the environment from long-term accumulation of heavy metals.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

43,34 €

Price includes VAT (Finland)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8

Availability of data and materials

The LUCAS 2009 topsoil database has been available for download since September 2013. Tellus is a project of the Geological Survey Ireland and is funded by the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment. All data from Tellus are made available free of charge online. The data that support the findings of this study are openly available at https://www.gsi.ie/en-ie/programmes-and-projects/tellus/Pages/default.aspx.

Code availability

There is no custom code for this research. All software used in this paper are mentioned in the Materials and Methods.

References

  • Adimalla, N. (2020). Heavy metals pollution assessment and its associated human health risk evaluation of urban soils from Indian cities: a review. Environmental Geochemistry and Health, 42(1), 173–190.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ahmed, F., Fakhruddin, A. N. M., Imam, M. T., Khan, N., Khan, T. A., Rahman, M. M., & Abdullah, A. T. M. (2016). Spatial distribution and source identification of heavy metal pollution in roadside surface soil: A study of Dhaka Aricha highway Bangladesh. Ecological Processes, 5(1), 2. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13717-016-0045-5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aitta, A., El-Ramady, H., Alshaal, T., El-Henawy, A., Shams, M., Talha, N., et al. (2019). Ecological risk assessment and spatial distribution of soil trace elements around Kitchener drain in the Northern Nile Delta Egypt. Agriculture, 9, 152. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture9070152.

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Amuno, S. A. (2013). Potential ecological risk of heavy metal distribution in cemetery soils. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution, 224(2), 1435. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-013-1435-2.

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Antoniadis, V., Shaheen, S. M., Boersch, J., Frohne, T., Laing, G. D., & Rinklebe, J. (2017). Bioavailability and risk assessment of potentially toxic elements in garden edible vegetables and soils around a highly contaminated former mining area in Germany. Journal of Environmental Management, 186, 192–200.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Appleton, J. D., Miles, J. C. H., Green, B. M. R., & Larmour, R. (2008). Pilot study of the application of Tellus airborne radiometric and soil geochemical data for radon mapping. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 99(10), 1687–1697.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Arenas-Lago, D., Vega, F. A., Silva, L. F. O., & Andrade, M. L. (2014). Copper distribution in surface and subsurface soil horizons. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 21, 10997–11008. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3084-4.

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ballabio, C., Panagos, P., & Monatanarella, L. (2016). Mapping topsoil physical properties at European scale using the LUCAS database. Geoderma, 261, 110–123.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barakat, A., Ennaji, W., Krimissa, S., & Bouzaid, M. (2019). Heavy metal contamination and ecological-health risk evaluation in peri-urban wastewater-irrigated soils of Beni-Mellal city (Morocco). International Journal of Environmental Health Research. https://doi.org/10.1080/09603123.2019.1595540.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beaver, M. B., Beaver, J. R., & Mendenhall, W. (2012). Introduction to probability and statistics. New Delhi (India): Cengage Learning.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beck, H. E., Zimmermann, N. E., McVicar, T. R., Vergopolan, N., Berg, A., & Wood, E. F. (2018). Present and future Köppen-Geiger climate classification maps at 1 km resolution. Scientific Data, 5, 180214.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bhagure, G. R., & Mirgane, S. R. (2011). Heavy metal concentrations in groundwaters and soils of Thane Region of Maharashtra. India. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 173(1–4), 643–652.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bhatti, S. S., Kumar, V., Sambyal, V., Singh, J., & Nagpal, A. K. (2018). Comparative analysis of tissue compartmentalized heavy metal uptake by common forage crop: a field experiment. CATENA, 160, 185–193.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Brevik, E.C. (2009). Soil, food security, and human health. In W. Verheye (Ed.), Soils, Plant Growth and Crop Production. Oxford, UK: EOLSS Publishers. Accessed May 27, 2020, from http://www.eolss.net.

  • Brevik, E. C., Calzolari, C., Miller, B. A., Pereira, P., Kabala, C., Baumgarten, A., & Jordán, A. (2016). Soil mapping, classification, and modeling: history and future directions. Geoderma, 264, 256–274. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2015.05.017.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brevik, E. C., Slaughter, L., Singh, B. R., Steffan, J. J., Collier, D., Barnhart, P., & Pereira, P. (2020). Soil and human health: Current status and future needs. Air, Soil, and Water Research, 13, 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1177/1178622120934441.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burrough, P. A., & McDonnell, R. A. (2015). Principles of geographical information systems. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cai, L., Xu, Z., Bao, P., He, M., Dou, L., Chen, L., & Zhu, Y. G. (2015). Multivariate and geostatistical analyses of the spatial distribution and source of arsenic and heavy metals in the agricultural soils in Shunde, Southeast China. Journal of Geochemical Exploration, 148, 189–195. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gexplo.2014.09.010.

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cai, L. M., Wang, Q. S., Wen, H. H., Luo, J., & Wang, S. (2019). Heavy metals in agricultural soils from a typical township in Guangdong Province, China: Occurrences and spatial distribution. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 168, 184–191.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cai, L., Zhencheng, X., Ren, M., Guo, Q., Hu, X., Hu, G., et al. (2012). Source identification of eight hazardous heavy metals in agricultural soils of Huizhou, Guangdong Province, China. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 78, 2–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2011.07.004.

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cao, H., Chen, J., Zhang, J., Zhang, H., Qiao, L., & Men, Y. (2010). Heavy metals in rice and garden vegetables and their potential health risks to inhabitants in the vicinity of an industrial zone in Jiangsu, China. Journal of Environmental Sciences, 22(11), 1792–1799.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chandrasekaran, A., Ravisankar, R., Harikrishnan, N., Satapathy, K. K., Prasad, M. V. R., & Kanagasabapathy, K. V. (2015). Multivariate statistical analysis of heavy metal concentration in soils of Yelagiri Hills, Tamilnadu, India—Spectroscopical approach. Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, 137, 589–600.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Charzyński, P., Plak, A., & Hanaka, A. (2017). Influence of the soil sealing on the geoaccumulation index of heavy metals and various pollution factors. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 24(5), 4801–4811.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen, H., Teng, Y., Lu, S., Wang, Y., Wu, J., & Wang, J. (2016). Source apportionment and health risk assessment of trace metals in surface soils of Beijing metropolitan, China. Chemosphere, 144, 1002–1011.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Çolak, F., Atar, N., Yazıcıoğlu, D., & Olgun, A. (2011). Biosorption of lead from aqueous solutions by Bacillus strains possessing heavy-metal resistance. Chemical Engineering Journal, 173(2), 422–428.

    Google Scholar 

  • Collins, J. F., & Cummins, T. (1996). Agroclimatic atlas of Ireland. Dublin: Agricultural Meteorology.

    Google Scholar 

  • Creamer, R., & O’Sullivan, L. (2018). The soils of Ireland (1st ed.). New York: Springer International Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dogra, N., Sharma, M., Sharma, A., Keshavarzi, A., Minakshi, A., Bhardwaj, R., et al. (2019). Pollution assessment and spatial distribution of roadside agricultural soils: A case study from India. International Journal of Environmental Health Research. https://doi.org/10.1080/09603123.2019.1578865.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elbehiry, F., Elbasiouny, H., Ali, R., & Brevik, E. C. (2020). Approaches for enhanced immobilization and phytoremediation of heavy metals in landfill contaminated soils. Water, Air, & Soil Pollution, 231, 204. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-020-04493-2.

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elbehiry, F., Elbasiouny, H., El-Ramady, H., & Brevik, E. C. (2019). Mobility, distribution, and potential risk assessment of selected trace elements in soils of the Nile Delta, Egypt. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 191, 713. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-019-7892-3.

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • El-Ramady, H., Faizy, S. E. D., Abdalla, N., Taha, H., Domokos-Szabolcsy, É., Fari, M., et al. (2020). Selenium and nano-selenium biofortification for human health: opportunities and challenges. Soil Systems, 4, 57. https://doi.org/10.3390/soilsystems4030057.

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foy, R. H., Bailey, J. S., & Lennox, S. D. (2002). Mineral balances for the use of phosphorus and other nutrients by agriculture in Northern Ireland from 1925 to 2000-methodology, trends and impacts of losses to water. Irish Journal of Agricultural and Food Research, 41, 247–263.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fu, W. J., Jiang, P. K., Zhou, G. M., & Zhao, K. L. (2014). Using Moran’s I and GIS to study the spatial pattern of forest litter carbon density in a subtropical region of southeastern China. Biogeosciences, 11, 2401–2409.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fu, W. J., Zhang, C. S., & Tunney, H. (2010). Spatial variation of soil nutrients in a dairy farm and its implications for site-specific fertilizer application. Soil and Tillage Research, 106, 185–193.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gallagher, V., Knights, K. V., Carey, S., Glennon, M., & Scanlon, R. (2016). Atlas of topsoil geochemistry of the Northern Counties of Ireland: Data from the Tellus and Tellus border projects. Dublin: Geological Survey of Ireland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Geological Survey of Ireland. (2020). Bedrock. Accessed June 18, 2020, from https://www.gsi.ie/en-ie/data-and-maps/Pages/Bedrock.aspx#500k.

  • Grunwald, S., Reddy, K. R., Newman, S., & DeBusk, W. F. (2004). Spatial variability, distribution and uncertainty assessment of soil phosphorus in a south Florida wetland. Environmetrics: The official journal of the International Environmetrics Society, 15(8), 811–825.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Guo, G., Wu, F., Xie, F., & Zhang, R. (2012). Spatial distribution and pollution assessment of heavy metals in urban soils from southwest China. Journal of Environmental Science, 24, 410–418.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hakanson, L. (1980). An ecological risk index for aquatic pollution control. Water Research, 14(8), 975–1001. https://doi.org/10.1016/0043-1354(80)90143-8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hammar, Ø., Harper, D.A.T., & Ryan, P.D. (2001). PAST: paleontological statistics software package for education and data analysis. Paleontologia Electronics, 4(1), Accessed June 18, 2020, from http://palaeo-electronica.org/2001_1/past/issue1_01.htm.

  • Heidari, A., Kumar, V., & Keshavarzi, A. (2019). Appraisal of metallic pollution and ecological risks in agricultural soils of Alborz province, Iran, employing contamination indices and multivariate statistical analyses. International Journal of Environmental Health Research. https://doi.org/10.1080/09603123.2019.1677864.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ingham, M. N., & Vrebos, B. A. R. (1994). High productivity geochemical XRF analysis. Advances in X-ray Analysis, 37, 717–724.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Islam, M. S., Ahmed, K., Habibullah-Al-Mamun, M., & Islam, A. S. (2017). Sources and ecological risk of heavy metals in soils of different land uses in Bangladesh. Pedosphere. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1002-0160(17)60394-1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jiang, Y., Chao, S., Liu, J., Yang, Y., Chen, Y., Zhang, A., & Cao, H. (2017). Source apportionment and health risk assessment of heavy metals in soil for a township in Jiangsu Province, China. Chemosphere, 168, 1658–1668.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jung, M. C. (2008). Heavy metal concentrations in soils and factors affecting metal uptake by plants in the vicinity of a Korean Cu-W mine. Sensors, 8(4), 2413–2423.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kargar, M., Clark, O. G., Hendershot, W. H., Jutras, P., & Prasher, S. O. (2015). Immobilization of trace metals in contaminated urban soils amended with compost and biochar. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution, 226, 191. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-015-2450-2.

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keshavarzi, A., & Kumar, V. (2019). Ecological risk assessment and source apportionment of heavy metal contamination in agricultural soils of northeastern Iran. International Journal of Environmental Health Research, 29(5), 544–560.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Khaledian, Y., Pereira, P., Brevik, E. C., Pundyte, N., & Paliulis, D. (2017). The influence of organic carbon and pH on heavy metals, potassium, and magnesium levels in Lithuanian Podzols. Land Degradation and Development, 28, 345–354. https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.2638.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kumar, V., Pandita, S., Sharma, A., Bakshi, P., Sharma, P., Karaouzas, I., & Cerda, A. (2019a). Ecological and human health risks appraisal of metal(loid)s in agricultural soils: a review. Geology, Ecology, and Landscapes. https://doi.org/10.1080/24749508.2019.1701310.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kumar, V., Sharma, A., Kaur, P., Sidhu, G. P. S., Bali, A. S., Bhardwaj, R., et al. (2019b). Pollution assessment of heavy metals in soils of India and ecological risk assessment: A state-of-the-art. Chemosphere, 216, 449–462.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kumar, V., Sharma, A., Bhardwaj, R. M., & Thukral, A. K. (2018). Temporal distribution, source apportionment, and pollution assessment of metals in the sediments of Beas river, India. Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: An International Journal, 24(8), 2162–2181.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kumar, V., Sharma, A., Thukral, A. K., & Bhardwaj, R. (2016). Assessment of soil enzyme activities based on soil samples from the Beas river bed, India using multivariate techniques. Malaysian Journal of Soil Science, 20, 135–145.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kumar, V., Sharma, A., Pandita, S., Bhardwaj, R., Thukral, A. K., & Cerda, A. (2020). A review of ecological risk assessment and associated health risks with heavy metals in sediment from India. International Journal of Sediment Research, 35, 516–526.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, C. S. L., Li, X., Shi, W., Cheung, S. C. N., & Thornton, I. (2006). Metal contamination in urban, suburban, and country park soils of Hong Kong: a study based on GIS and multivariate statistics. Science of the Total Environment, 356(1–3), 45–61.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Liu, H., Chen, L. P., Ai, Y. W., Yang, X., Yu, Y. H., Zuo, Y. B., & Fu, G. Y. (2009). Heavy metal contamination in soil alongside mountain railway in Sichuan China. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 152(1–4), 25–33.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Liu, H., Zhang, Y., Zhou, X., You, X., Shi, Y., & Xu, J. (2017). Source identification and spatial distribution of heavy metals in tobacco-growing soils in Shandong province of China with multivariate and geostatistical analysis. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 24(6), 5964–5975.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Liu, R., Wang, M., Chen, W., & Peng, C. (2016). Spatial pattern of heavy metals accumulation risk in urban soils of Beijing and its influencing factors. Environmental Pollution, 210, 174–181.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Loska, K., Wiechuła, D., & Korus, I. (2004). Metal contamination of farming soils affected by industry. Environment International, 30(2), 159–165.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lu, X., Wang, L., Li, L. Y., Lei, K., Huang, L., & Kang, D. (2010). Multivariate statistical analysis of heavy metals in street dust of Baoji, NW China. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 173(1–3), 744–749. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2009.09.001.

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lusty, P. A., Gunn, A. G., McDonnell, P. M., Chacksfield, B. C., Cooper, M. R., & Earls, G. (2009). Gold potential of the Dalradian rocks of north-west Northern Ireland: Prospectivity analysis using Tellus data. Applied Earth Science, 118(3–4), 162–177.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ma, W., Tai, L., Qiao, Z., Zhong, L., Wang, Z., Fu, K., & Chen, G. (2018). Contamination source apportionment and health risk assessment of heavy metals in soil around municipal solid waste incinerator: A case study in North China. Science of the Total Environment, 631, 348–357.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marrugo-Negrete, J., Pinedo-Hernández, J., & Díez, S. (2017). Assessment of heavy metal pollution, spatial distribution and origin in agricultural soils along the Sinú River Basin, Colombia. Environmental Research, 154, 380–388.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Masoud, A. A., Koike, K., Mashaly, H. A., & Gergis, F. (2016). Spatio-temporal trends and change factors of groundwater quality in an arid area with peat rich aquifers: Emergence of water environmental problems in Tanta District, Egypt. Journal of Arid Environments, 124, 360–376.

    Google Scholar 

  • McElarney, Y., Rippey, B., Rosell, R., Ward, C., Allen, M., Forasacco, E., Gallagher, K., Macintosh, K., Vaughan, L., Paul, A., Campbell, W., Cromie, H., O’Kane, E., Donohue, I., & Kelly, F. 2015. DOLMANT Development of targeted ecological modelling tools for lake management—technical report. EU INTERREG IVA Crossborder Programme. Newforge Lane: Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute.

  • McGowen, S. L., Basta, N. T., & Brown, G. O. (2001). Use of diammonium phosphate to reduce heavy metal solubility and transport in smelter-contaminated soil. Journal of Environmental Quality, 30(2), 493–500. https://doi.org/10.2134/jeq2001.302493x.

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGrath, D., & Fleming, G. A. (2006). Trace elements and heavy metals in Irish soils. Wexford: Teagasc Co.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mehr, M. R., Keshavarzi, B., Moore, F., Sharifi, R., Lahijanzadeh, A., & Kermani, M. (2017). Distribution, source identification and health risk assessment of soil heavy metals in urban areas of Isfahan province, Iran. Journal of African Earth Sciences, 132, 16–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Milne, C.J., Barker, K., Brettle, C., Chaggar, A.,Wheeler, J., Gowing, C.J.B., & Watts, M.J. (2013). Tellus Border: Preparation and geochemical analysis of sediment and soil samples. British geological survey commissioned report, CR/13/017. Keyworth: British geological survey.

  • Moghtaderi, T., Alamdar, R., Rodríguez-Seijo, A., Naghibi, S. J., & Kumar, V. (2020). Ecological risk assessment and source apportionment of heavy metal contamination in urban soils in Shiraz, Southwest Iran. Arabian Journal of Geosciences, 13(16), 1–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morgan, R. (2013). Soil, heavy metals, and human health. In E. C. Brevik & L. C. Burgess (Eds.), Soils and human health (pp. 59–82). Boca Raton: CRC Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nice, S.E. (2010). Inorganic soil geochemical baseline data for the urban area of the Belfast Metropolitan Area, Northern Ireland. British geological survey open report, OR/08/021. Keyworth: British geological survey.

  • Olgun, A., & Atar, N. (2011). Removal of copper and cobalt from aqueous solution onto waste containing boron impurity. Chemical Engineering Journal, 167(1), 140–147.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Olaya, V., & Conrad, O. (2009). Geomorphometry in SAGA. Developments in Soil Science, 33, 293–308.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pan, L. B., Ma, J., Wang, X. L., & Hou, H. (2016). Heavy metals in soils from a typical county in Shanxi Province, China: Levels, sources and spatial distribution. Chemosphere, 148, 248–254.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Panagos, P., Van Liedekerke, M., Jones, A., & Montanarella, L. (2012). European soil data centre: Response to European policy support and public data requirements. Land Use Policy, 29(2), 329–338. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2011.07.003.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pandit, P., Mangala, P., Saini, A., Bangotra, P., Kumar, V., Mehra, R., & Ghosh, D. (2020). Radiological and pollution risk assessments of terrestrial radionuclides and heavy metals in a mineralized zone of the Siwalik region (India). Chemosphere, 254, 126857.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Peng, Y., Kheir, R. B., Adhikari, K., Malinowski, R., Greve, M. B., Knadel, M., & Greve, M. H. (2016). Digital mapping of toxic metals in Qatari soils using remote sensing and ancillary data. Remote Sensing, 8(12), 1003.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pereira, P., Ubeda, X., Martin, D., Mataix-Solera, J., Cerdà, A., & Burguet, M. (2014). Wildfire effects on extractable elements in ash from a Pinus pinaster forest in Portugal. Hydrological Process, 28, 3681–3690. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.9907.

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perez-Esteban, J., Ecolastico, C., Masaguer, A., Vargas, C., & Moliner, A. (2014). Soluble organic carbon and pH of organic amendments affect metal mobility and chemical speciation in mine soils. Chemosphere, 103, 167–171. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2013.11.055.

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rais, D., Nowack, B., Schulin, R., & Luster, J. (2006). Sorption of trace metals by standard and micro suction cups in the absence and presence of dissolved organic carbon. Journal of Environmental Quality, 35(1), 50–60.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rezapour, S., Golmohammad, H., & Ramezanpour, H. (2014). Impact of parent rock and topography aspect on the distribution of soil trace metals in natural ecosystems. International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 11(7), 2075–2086.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rodriguez Martin, J. A., Ramos-Miras, J. J., Boluda, R., & Gil, C. (2013). Spatial relations of heavy metals in arable and greenhouse soils of a Mediterranean environment region (Spain). Geoderma, 200–201, 180–188.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sakram, G., Machender, G., Dhakate, R., Saxena, P. R., & Prasad, M. D. (2015). Assessment of trace elements in soils around Zaheerabad Town, Medak District, Andhra Pradesh, India. Environmental Earth Sciences, 73, 4511–4524.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sihag, P., Keshavarzi, A., & Kumar, V. (2019). Comparison of different approaches for modeling of heavy metal estimations. SN Applied Sciences, 1(7), 780.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stafilov, T., Šajn, R., Boev, B., Cvetković, J., Mukaetov, D., Andreevski, M., & Lepitkova, S. (2010). Distribution of some elements in surface soil over the Kavadarci region Republic of Macedonia. Environmental Earth Sciences, 61(7), 1515–1530.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Steffan, J. J., Brevik, E. C., Burgess, L. C., & Cerdà, A. (2018). The effect of soil on human health: An overview. European Journal of Soil Science, 69, 159–171.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Strauss, T., & von Maltitz, M. J. (2017). Generalising Ward’s method for use with Manhattan distances. PLoS ONE, 12(1), e0168288.

    Google Scholar 

  • Agency, S. E. P. (2003). Introduction to methods: For inventories and risk classification of contaminated sites, Report 5053. Värnamo: Fälth & Hässler.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, S. R., & McLennan, S. M. (1995). The geochemical evolution of the continental crust. Reviews of Geophysics, 33(2), 241–265.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tepanosyan, G., Sahakyan, L., Belyaeva, O., Asmaryan, S., & Saghatelyan, A. (2018). Continuous impact of mining activities on soil heavy metals levels and human health. Science of the Total Environment, 639, 900–909.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tepanosyan, G., Sahakyan, L., Belyaeva, O., Maghakyan, N., & Saghatelyan, A. (2017). Human health risk assessment and riskiest heavy metal origin identification in urban soils of Yerevan, Armenia. Chemosphere, 184, 1230–1240.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tian, K., Huang, B., Xing, Z., & Hu, W. (2017). Geochemical baseline establishment and ecological risk evaluation of heavy metals in greenhouse soils from Dongtai, China. Ecological Indicators, 72, 510–520.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tomlinson, D. L., Wilson, J. G., Harris, C. R., & Jeffrey, D. W. (1980). Problems in the assessment of heavy-metal levels in estuaries and the formation of a pollution index. Helgoländer Meeresuntersuchungen, 33(1), 566–575.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trujillo-González, J. M., Mahecha-Pulido, J. D., Torres-Mora, M. A., Brevik, E. C., Keesstra, S. D., & Jiménez-Ballesta, R. (2017). Impact of potentially contaminated river water on agricultural irrigated soils in an equatorial climate. Agriculture, 7, 52. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture7070052.

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • US Geology Survey. (2014). GloVis. Accessed June 18, 2020, from http://glovis.usgs.gov.

  • Vardhana, K. H., Kumar, P. S., & Panda, R. C. (2019). A review on heavy metal pollution, toxicity and remedial measures: Current trends and future perspectives. Journal of Molecular Liquids, 290, 111197. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molliq.2019.111197.

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, Y., Hu, J., Xiong, K., Huang, X., & Duan, S. (2012). Distribution of heavy metals in core sediments from Baihua Lake. Procedia Environmental Sciences, 16, 51–58.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, S. Y., Yu, T. Q., Wang, J. L., Liu, Y. A. N. G., Kai, Y. A. N. G., & Ping, L. U. (2008). Preliminary study on spatial variability and distribution of soil available microelements in Pinggu County, Beijing, China. Agricultural Sciences in China, 7(10), 1235–1244.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang, Y., Duan, X., & Wang, L. (2020). Spatial distribution and source analysis of heavy metals in soils influenced by industrial enterprise distribution: Case study in Jiangsu Province. Science of the Total Environment, 710, 134953.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ward, J. H., Jr. (1963). Hierarchical grouping to optimize an objective function. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 58, 236–244.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wei, B., & Yang, L. (2010). A review of heavy metal contaminations in urban soils, urban road dusts and agricultural soils from China. Microchemical Journal, 94(2), 99–107.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wuana, R. A., & Okieimen, F. E. (2011). Heavy metals in contaminated soils: A review of sources, chemistry, risks and best available strategies for remediation. ISRN Ecology. https://doi.org/10.5402/2011/402647.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xiao, R., Guo, D., Ali, A., Mi, S., Liu, T., Ren, C., et al. (2019). Accumulation, ecological-health risks assessment, and source apportionment of heavy metals in paddy soils: A case study in Hanzhong, Shaanxi, China. Environmental Pollution, 248, 349–357.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yegemova, S., Kumar, R., Abuduwaili, J., Ma, L., Samat, A., Issanova, G., et al. (2018). Identifying the key information and land management plans for water conservation under dry weather conditions in the Border areas of the Syr Darya River in Kazakhstan. Water, 10(12), 1754.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Young, M., & Donald, A. (2013). A guide to the Tellus data. Belfast: Geological Survey of Northern Ireland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zahra, A., Hashmi, M. Z., Malik, R. N., & Ahmed, Z. (2014). Enrichment and geoaccumulation of heavy metals and risk assessment of sediments of the Kurang Nallah—feeding tributary of Rawal Lake, Pakistan. Science of the Total Environment, 470–471, 925–933. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.10.017.

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao, K., Zhang, L., Dong, J., Wu, J., Ye, Z., Zhao, W., et al. (2020). Risk assessment, spatial patterns and source apportionment of soil heavy metals in a typical Chinese hickory plantation region of southeastern China. Geoderma, 360, 114011.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhao, Q., & Kaluarachchi, J. J. (2002). Risk assessment at hazardous waste-contaminated sites with variability of population characteristics. Environment International, 28(1–2), 41–53.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu, G., Guo, Q., Xiao, H., Chen, T., & Yang, J. (2017). Multivariate statistical and lead isotopic analyses approach to identify heavy metal sources in topsoil from the industrial zone of Beijing Capital iron and steel factory. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 24, 14877–14888.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu, H., Zhao, Y., Nan, F., Duan, Y., & Bi, R. (2016). Relative influence of soil chemistry and topography on soil available micronutrients by structural equation modeling. Journal of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, 16(4), 1038–1051.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zuo, S., Dai, S., Li, Y., Tang, J., & Ren, Y. (2018). Analysis of heavy metal sources in the soil of riverbanks across an urbanization gradient. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(10), 2175.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Department of Mining Engineering, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey, and Department of Soil Science, University of Tehran, Iran. The authors would like to thank the Geological Survey, Ireland, and the Geological Survey of Northern Ireland and LUCAS database at European scale for providing free access to the datasets.

Funding

This study was supported by the Department of Mining Engineering, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey, and Department of Soil Science, University of Tehran, Iran.

Author information

Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Remote Sensing and GIS, Department of Soil Science, University of Tehran, P.O.Box: 4111, 31587-77871, Karaj, Iran

    Ali Keshavarzi

  2. Department of Mining Engineering, Hacettepe University, 06800, Beytepe, Ankara, Turkey

    Ali Keshavarzi & Güneş Ertunç

  3. Department of Botany, Government Degree College, Ramban, Jammu, 182144, India

    Vinod Kumar

  4. Departments of Natural Sciences and Agriculture and Technical Studies, Dickinson State University, 291 Campus Drive, Dickinson, ND, 58061, USA

    Eric C. Brevik

Authors
  1. Ali Keshavarzi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Vinod Kumar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Güneş Ertunç
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Eric C. Brevik
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

A.K. and G.E. were involved in the conceptualization; A.K. and G.E. were involved in the data curation; A.K. V.K., and G.E. were involved in the formal analysis; A.K., V.K., G.E., and E.C.B were involved in the investigation; A.K., V.K., G.E., and E.C.B were involved in the methodology; A.K., V.K., G.E. contributed to software; G.E. was involved in the supervision; A.K., V.K., G.E., and E.C.B were involved in the validation; A.K., V.K., G.E., and E.C.B were involved in the writing and editing.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Eric C. Brevik.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Consent to participate

No human research subjects were used in this study.

Consent to publish

No human research subjects were used in this study.

Ethical approval

No human or animal research subjects were used in this study.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Keshavarzi, A., Kumar, V., Ertunç, G. et al. Ecological risk assessment and source apportionment of heavy metals contamination: an appraisal based on the Tellus soil survey. Environ Geochem Health 43, 2121–2142 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-020-00787-w

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-020-00787-w

Keywords

  • Tellus database
  • Soil and human health
  • Multivariate analysis
  • Ecological risk
  • Contamination indices