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Identification of the heavy metal pollution sources in the rhizosphere soil of farmland irrigated by the Yellow River using PMF analysis combined with multiple analysis methods—using Zhongwei city, Ningxia, as an example

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Abstract

In recent years, with the frequent occurrences of heavy metal (HM) pollution in agriculture, the problem of HM pollution in farmland soil, especially in the areas irrigation by the Yellow River, has been attracted increasing attention because of the complex sources of pollution. Qualitative identification of pollution sources and quantification of their contributions to HMs in soil are the key links in the prevention and control of HM pollution. The contents of 11 heavy metals (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sn, V, and Zn) in the rhizosphere soil of the Ningxia irrigation area were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Multiple methods were used for source identification, including positive matrix factorization (PMF) analysis combined with multiple other analyses (single factor index method (Pi), coefficient of variation(CV), correlation analysis(CA), enrichment factor(EF), and principal component analysis(PCA)). The results showed that (1) the over-standard rates of As, Cd, Cr, Mn, Pb, Sn, and Zn in the study area were 100%, of which Cd was seriously polluted, while As, Zn, and Sn were moderately polluted. (2) The HM contributions from irrigation and silt soil formed by the Yellow River sediment were the highest (42.45%), followed by the smelting industry and traffic pollution (16.06%). (3) The contribution of agricultural pollution to HMs in the region was 15.54%, in which As was mainly from pesticides and Cd was mainly from fertilizers.

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Funding

The National Natural Science Foundation of China (21177163), Special Guidance Fund of Building World First-class Universities (Disciplines) and Characteristic Development (2019, 10301-0190040129), funded by the independent research project of the master’s degree of the Central University for Nationalities (2019, Master, SSZZKY-2019106), Undergraduate Scientific Research and Training Program of Minzu University of China (BEIJ2018110005).

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  1. College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Minzu University of China, Beijing, 100081, China

    Min Zhang, Chang Liu, Jiayu Lu, Yuhong Qin, Yunkan Mo, Pengjun Xiao & Ying Liu

  2. Beijing Engineering Research Center of Food Environment and Public Health, Minzu University of China, Beijing, 100081, China

    Ying Liu

  3. Guangxi Key Laboratory of Marine Disaster in the Beibu Gulf, Beibu Gulf University, Qinzhou, 535011, China

    Xueping Wang

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  1. Min Zhang
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Zhang, M., Wang, X., Liu, C. et al. Identification of the heavy metal pollution sources in the rhizosphere soil of farmland irrigated by the Yellow River using PMF analysis combined with multiple analysis methods—using Zhongwei city, Ningxia, as an example. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27, 16203–16214 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-07986-z

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