Abstract
As one of the most important coal-producing provinces of China, Shanxi Province has been concerned about soil potentially toxic elements (PTEs) contamination in recent years. The study aimed to determine the status and sources of PTEs contamination and evaluate the quality of the soil ecology. This study investigated the degree of 13 PTEs contamination. The sources and contributions of PTEs were traced by the absolute principal component score followed by a multiple linear regression model (APCS–MLR). And the status of the soil ecosystem was verified by evaluating the soil nematode community around the coal mining areas in Jinzhong. The results showed that the mean PTEs concentration of 5 trace elements were higher than the background values of Shanxi, and safe to considerable was indicated by the pollution and ecological risk values. Soil Hg was the most contaminated element, followed by Cd. The distribution of PTEs was determined by coal mining activities (44.72%) followed by agricultural practice (32.37%) and coal transportation (21.37%). The nematode genera Acrobeloides (4.01%), Aphelenchus (20.30%), Meloidogyne (11.95%) and Aporcelaimus (2.74%) could be regarded as bioindicators of soil PTEs contamination by their tolerance. Concentrations of soil Cr, Mn, Ti and Cd showed remarkable influences on the total nematode abundance, maturity index, enrichment index, structural index, Shannon–Wiener diversity index and Pielou index of soil nematode. It is an appropriate method to evaluate the status of soil PTEs contamination combining the response of a single nematode genus and the nematode community evaluation index.
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We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the editors and reviewers who have devoted considerable time and effort into their comments on this paper.
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This work was financially supported by Scientific and Technological Innovation Programs of Higher Education Institutions in Shanxi (2021L222), Teaching Reform Innovation Programs of Higher Education Institutions in Shanxi (J20220435), National Natural Science Foundation of China (81973093), the Applied Basic Research Project of Shanxi Province, China (201801D221404) and the Startup Foundation for Doctors of Shanxi Medical University (03201522).
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. YXJ was involved in the methodology, software, writing–original draft preparation, writing–reviewing and editing; CBJ was involved in the methodology, software, writing–original draft preparation, writing–reviewing and editing; WZY helped in the visualization and investigation; WSH was involved in the data curation and data collection GY contributed to the data collection; LLP contributed to the data collection; ZHM contributed to the conceptualization and supervision.
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Yang, X., Cheng, B., Wang, Z. et al. Characteristics and pollution risks of potentially toxic elements and nematode community structure on farm soil near coal mines. Environ Geochem Health 45, 6835–6852 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-022-01420-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-022-01420-8