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Mercury and Cadmium Contamination of Irrigation Water, Sediment, Soil and Shallow Groundwater in a Wastewater-Irrigated Field in Tianjin, China

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Abstract

We investigated the concentrations of Hg, Cd, Pb and As in samples of irrigation water, sediment, soil and groundwater from a field in Tianjin that was irrigated with wastewater. The results showed that the concentrations (Hg, 0.82 μg/L; Cd, 0.18 μg/L; Pb, 1.5 μg/L; As, 8.02 μg/L) in the irrigation water did not exceed the China Surface Water Quality Standard or the maximum concentrations in irrigation water recommended by the FAO. The concentrations of metals in the groundwater of wells (Hg, 0.016 μg/L; Cd, 0.128 μg/L; Pb, 0.25 μg/L; As, 4.65 μg/L) were lower than China Groundwater Quality Standard and the WHO guideline values for drinking water. The groundwater had not yet been contaminated through vertical infiltration-induced leaching. However, a substantial buildup of Hg and Cd in river sediments (I geo for Hg and Cd; 5.24 and 3.04, respectively) and wastewater-irrigated soils (I geo for Hg and Cd; 2.50 and 3.09, respectively) was observed. Taken together, these results indicated that irrigation with wastewater damaged the soil quality over the long term and that metals more easily accumulated in vegetable fields than rice fields.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by Natural Science foundation of Tianjin Municipal of China (06YFSZSF05100).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tianjin Key Laboratory of Water Environment and Water Resource, Tianjin Normal University, 300387, Tianjin, People’s Republic of China

    G.-H. Wu & S.-S. Cao

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  1. G.-H. Wu
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  2. S.-S. Cao
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Correspondence to G.-H. Wu.

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Wu, GH., Cao, SS. Mercury and Cadmium Contamination of Irrigation Water, Sediment, Soil and Shallow Groundwater in a Wastewater-Irrigated Field in Tianjin, China. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 84, 336–341 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-010-9939-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-010-9939-6

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