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Heavy metal concentrations and their possible sources in paddy soils of a modern agricultural zone, southeastern China

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Abstract

In a typical modern agricultural Zone of southeastern China, Haining City, 224 topsoil samples were collected from paddy fields to measure the total concentrations of copper (Cu), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), mercury (Hg), arsenic (As) and cobalt (Co). The total concentrations ranged from 15.30 to 78.40 mg kg−1 for Cu, 20.10 to 41.40 mg kg−1 for Pb, 54.98 to 224.4 mg kg−1 for Zn, 0.04 to 0.24 mg kg−1 for Cd, 54.90 to 197.1 mg kg−1 for Cr, 0.03 to 0.61 mg kg−1 for Hg, 3.44 to 15.28 mg kg−1 for As, and 7.17 to 19.00 mg kg−1 for Co. Chemometric techniques and geostatistics were utilized to quantify their spatial characteristics and define their possible sources. All eight metals had a moderate spatial dependency except that Pb had a strong spatial dependency. Both factor analysis and cluster analysis successfully classified the eight metals into three groups or subgroups, the first group included Cu, Zn and Cr, the second group included Cd, As and Co, and the last group included Pb and Hg. The Cu, Zn and Cr concentrations in majority samples were higher than their local background concentrations and they were highly correlated (r > 0.80), indicating that they had similar pollution source and anthropic factor controlled their spatial distribution; the Cd, As and Co concentrations in majority samples were lower than their local background concentrations, indicating that the source of these elements was mainly controlled by natural factors; the mean concentration of Pb exhibited generally low level, close to its local background concentration, the Hg concentration in about half of samples was higher than its local background concentration, and they were poor correlated with the other metals, indicating that the source of Pb and Hg was common controlled by natural factor and anthropic factor.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the grants by the National Basic Research Priorities Program (973 Program) (2002CB410810). We appreciate all the colleagues who collected and analyzed the soil samples. We also extend great appreciation to Dr. Jiaping Wu and Dr. Huiqing Huang of the Zhejiang University, for their aids in auxiliary data collection.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research for Sustainable Development, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 264003, Yantai, China

    Chunfa Wu

  2. Key Laboratory of Soil Environment and Pollution Remediation, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 71 East Beijing Rd, 210008, Nanjing, China

    Chunfa Wu

  3. Agricultural Extension Service, 314400, Haining, China

    Limin Zhang

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  1. Chunfa Wu
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Correspondence to Chunfa Wu.

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Wu, C., Zhang, L. Heavy metal concentrations and their possible sources in paddy soils of a modern agricultural zone, southeastern China. Environ Earth Sci 60, 45–56 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-009-0168-4

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