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Distribution and assessment of Pb in the supergene environment of the Huainan Coal Mining Area, Anhui, China

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Abstract

Coal mining area is highly subject to lead (Pb) pollution from coal mining activities. Several decades of coal mining and processing practices in dozens of coal mines in the Huainan Coal Mining Area (HCMA) have led to the accumulation of massive amounts of coal gangue, which piled in dumps. In order to investigate the impacts of coal gangue dumps on Pb level in the supergene media of the HCMA, a systematic sampling campaign comprising coal gangue, soil, wheat, and earthworm samples was conducted. The average Pb content in the coal mining area soil is 24 mg/kg, which is slightly higher than the associated coal gangues (23 mg/kg) and markedly higher than reference region soil (12.6 mg/kg). Soil in the HCMA present a slight to moderate Pb contamination, which might be related to the weathering and leaching of coal gangue dumps. Lateral distribution of Pb in HCMA soil differed among individual coal mines. The soil profile distribution of Pb depends on both natural and anthropogenic contributions. Average Pb content is higher in roots than in stems, leaves, and wheat husks, while the Pb level in seeds exceeded the maximum Pb allowance for foods (Maximum Levels of Contaminants in Foods of China, GB 2762–2012). Earthworms in the selected area are significantly enriched in Pb, suggesting higher bio-available Pb level in soil in the HCMA.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 41173032), the National Science and Technology Support Program (1012BAC10B02), the Key Program for Science and Technology Development of Anhui Province (no. 12010402111 and 11010401015), and the Creative project of the Huainan Mining Industry (Group) Co., Ltd. We acknowledge the help of various editors and reviewers in polishing the language of the paper and for in-depth discussion.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CAS Key Laboratory of Crust-Mantle Materials and Environment, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, 230026, China

    Ting Fang, Guijian Liu, Chuncai Zhou & Zijiao Yuan

  2. State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an, Shaanxi, 710075, China

    Ting Fang, Guijian Liu, Chuncai Zhou & Zijiao Yuan

  3. University of Science and Technology of China–City University of Hong Kong Joint Advanced Research Centre, Suzhou, Jiangsu, 251006, China

    Ting Fang, Guijian Liu, Chuncai Zhou, Zijiao Yuan & Paul Kwan Sing Lam

  4. State Key Laboratory in Marine Pollution and Department of Biology and Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China

    Ting Fang, Chuncai Zhou & Paul Kwan Sing Lam

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  1. Ting Fang
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  2. Guijian Liu
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Correspondence to Guijian Liu.

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Fang, T., Liu, G., Zhou, C. et al. Distribution and assessment of Pb in the supergene environment of the Huainan Coal Mining Area, Anhui, China. Environ Monit Assess 186, 4753–4765 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-014-3735-4

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