Abstract
Potentially toxic elements from geothermal springs can cause significant pollution of the surrounding environment and pose potential risk to the ecosystem. The fate of potentially toxic elements in the water–soil–plant system in the Yangbajain geothermal field on the Tibetan Plateau, China was investigated to assess their impact on the eco-environment. The concentrations of Be, F, As, and Tl were highly elevated in the headwaters of the Yangbajain geothermal springs, and their concentrations in the local surface water impacted by the geothermal springs reached 8.1 μg/L (Be), 23.9 mg/L (F), 3.83 mg/L (As), and 8.4 μg/L (Tl), respectively, far exceeding the corresponding thresholds for surface and drinking water. The absence of As–Fe co-precipitation, undersaturated F−, and weak adsorption on minerals at high geothermal spring pH may be responsible for the As- and F-rich drainage, which caused pollution of local river. As concentrations in the leaves of Orinus thoroldii (Stapf ex Hemsl.) Bor were up to 42.7 μg/g (dry weight basis), which is an order of magnitude higher than the allowable limit in animal feeds. The locally farmed yaks are exposed to the excessive amount of F and As with high exposure risk through water-drinking and grass-feeding.
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank M. Zhai, G. Lv, Y. Yin, H. Zhi, X. Wang, and Y. Hu for their help in field sampling.
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This work was supported in parts by the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research Program (2019QZKK0605), the Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41725015 and U2006212), and the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2021M700199).
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Wang, Y., Cheng, H. Environmental fate and ecological impact of the potentially toxic elements from the geothermal springs. Environ Geochem Health 45, 6287–6303 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-023-01628-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-023-01628-2