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Geochemistry and genotoxicity of the heavy metals in mine-abandoned areas and wasteland in the Hetai goldfields, Guangdong Province, China

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Abstract

The article presents the geochemical and biogeochemical characteristics of heavy metal elements within the soil–plant system in the Hetai mine-abandoned areas and wasteland, China. The cytogenetic toxic effects of gold mine wastelands environment on the chromosome and micronucleus were analyzed by genetic methods. The results showed that abundances of Au and Au-associated heavy metal elements such as Cu, As, Cd, Pb and Hg in soils, plants and the pigments in those abandoned mine areas were much higher than those in the background region. The cell structures of the plants in the abandoned mine areas were anomalous and aberrant, and there were many nano-metal particles diffused in the cells. Moreover, the heavy metal elements in those abandoned mine areas had entered the ultrastructure and caused toxicities to the organism.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported in part by the Scientific Frontier Program for Young Talents of the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. SQ200807) and the Open Fund of Key Laboratory of Marginal Sea Geology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. MSG200902). The authors would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers whose critical review and comments greatly helped to improve the quality of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Marginal Sea Geology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 510301, Guangzhou, GD, People’s Republic of China

    Li Miao & Wen Yan

  2. South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 510301, Guangzhou, GD, People’s Republic of China

    Li Miao & Wen Yan

  3. Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 510640, Guangzhou, GD, People’s Republic of China

    Yueliang Ma & Ruisong Xu

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  1. Li Miao
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  2. Yueliang Ma
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  3. Ruisong Xu
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  4. Wen Yan
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Correspondence to Yueliang Ma.

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Miao, L., Ma, Y., Xu, R. et al. Geochemistry and genotoxicity of the heavy metals in mine-abandoned areas and wasteland in the Hetai goldfields, Guangdong Province, China. Environ Earth Sci 65, 1955–1964 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-011-1176-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-011-1176-8

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