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Pollution characteristics and health risk assessment of potentially toxic elements in soils around China’s gold mines: a meta-analysis

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Abstract

Since toxic element pollution is widespread in soils near gold mines due to increasing mining activities, the adverse effects of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in the soils on ecological systems and human health cannot be ignored. However, assessments of PTE pollution in soils and their ecological-health risks on a national scale are still limited. Here, the concentrations of eight PTEs in soils near gold mines throughout China were obtained from published articles. Based on these data, the pollution levels and ecological-health risks of the eight PTEs in soils were comprehensively estimated. The results showed that the average contents of As, Cr, Cd, Pb, Hg, Cu, Ni, and Zn were 81.62, 79.82, 1.04, 206.03, 2.05, 40.82, 71.82, and 130.42 mg kg−1, respectively, which exceeded the corresponding background values for soils. Most of the examined soils were heavily polluted by Hg and Cd, and higher pollution levels were found in the Henan and Shaanxi Provinces than in other regions. The average potential ecological risk value of all PTEs was 2534.71, indicating the presence of very high risks. Contribution of Hg to the potential ecological risk was more than 80%. For adults, all hazard index (HI) values of noncarcinogenic risks were below the safe level of 1.00. For children, none of the HI values exceeded the safe level, with the exception of As (HI = 1.81); nevertheless, four PTEs (As, Cr, Cu, and Ni) presented unacceptable carcinogenic risks. This study provides scientific basis for controlling PTE contamination and reducing the health risks in soils near gold mines worldwide.

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Funding

This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41977031, 41671406) and National Funds for Distinguished Young Scientists of Shaanxi Province (2020JC-31).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100, China

    Li Chen, Haoran He & Linchuan Fang

  2. CAS Center for Excellence in Quaternary Science and Global Change, Xi’an, 710061, China

    Li Chen & Linchuan Fang

  3. MNR Key Laboratory for Geo-Environmental Monitoring of Great Bay Area and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Urban Informatics and Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Spatial Smart Sensing and Services, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, China

    Jingzhe Wang

  4. State Key Laboratory of soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation CAS and MWR, Yangling, 712100, China

    Xuetao Guo & Haoran He

  5. College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, 420100, China

    Hao Wu

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  1. Li Chen
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  3. Xuetao Guo
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Contributions

Li Chen contributed to data collection, software, and writing/revising original draft; Jingzhe Wang contributed to software and editing; Xuetao Guo and Hao Wu contributed to editing and formal analysis; Haoran Hu collected the data; Linchuan Fang revised the original draft, acquired funding, and administrated the project.

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Correspondence to Linchuan Fang.

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Chen, L., Wang, J., Guo, X. et al. Pollution characteristics and health risk assessment of potentially toxic elements in soils around China’s gold mines: a meta-analysis. Environ Geochem Health 44, 3765–3777 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-021-01175-8

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