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Distribution, enrichment and sources of trace metals in the topsoil in the vicinity of a steel wire plant along the Silk Road economic belt, northwest China

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Abstract

The West Development Program, initiated in 2000 by the central government of China, has attracted huge investments in the arid and semiarid regions of northwest China. As a consequence of this development, environmental pollution and ecological degradation have been widely reported. The Silk Road economic belt proposed by China promotes further economic development in the regions, but rational planning and regular monitoring are essential to minimize any additional negative impacts of the anthropogenic activities. This article reports an investigation on the distribution, enrichment and sources of trace metals in the topsoil in and around the Ningxia Hengli Steel Wire Plant (HSWP) situated along the Silk Road economic belt. The concentrations of Cd, Pb, Cr, Cu, Zn, Ni, Mn, V and Co in the surface soils of the study area vary, respectively, in the following ranges: 0.083–18.600, 21.9–2681.0, 58.0–100.0, 14.6–169.9, 59.0–4207.3, 19.3–40.8, 411–711, 55.2–76.6 and 7.46–25.21 mg/kg. The concentrations of Cd, Pb, Cr, Cu, Zn and Co are significantly higher than their local background values. Pollution levels of these trace metals in the surface soils were assessed using contamination index (C i f ), geo-accumulation index (I geo), modified contamination degree (mC d) and pollution load index. The potential ecological risks caused by the metal pollution were assessed by means of potential ecological risk factor (E i f ) and potential ecological risk index. The Spearman correlation and cluster analysis were applied to determine the contamination sources. The HSWP zone, associated with very high potential ecological risk caused by Pb and Cd, is more seriously contaminated by trace metals than the residential zone. This study indicates that Cd, Pb, Cu, Zn and Co mainly originate from industrial pollution, whereas Cr, Mn, Ni and V result from both industrial activities and natural processes.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Foundation of Outstanding Young Scholar of Chang’an University (310829153509), the General Financial Grant from the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2015M580804 and 2016M590911), the Research Funds for Young Stars in Science and Technology of Shaanxi Province (2016KJXX-29), the Special Financial Grant from the Shaanxi Postdoctoral Science Foundation, the Special Fund for Basic Scientific Research of Central Colleges (310829151072) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41502234). We are thankful to the laboratory workers from Ningxia Institute of Environmental Monitoring for their help in sample analysis. Anonymous reviewers and the Editor are sincerely acknowledged for their useful comments that have helped us a lot in improving the quality of the original manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Subsurface Hydrology and Ecological Effects in Arid Region of the Ministry of Education, Chang’an University, No. 126 Yanta Road, Xi’an, 710054, China

    Peiyue Li, Jianhua Wu & Hui Qian

  2. School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Chang’an University, No. 126 Yanta Road, Xi’an, 710054, China

    Peiyue Li, Jianhua Wu & Hui Qian

  3. ERT, Inc., 12710 Buttonwood Lane, Knoxville, TN, 37934, USA

    Wanfang Zhou

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  1. Peiyue Li
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  2. Jianhua Wu
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Correspondence to Peiyue Li.

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This article is a part of a Topical Collection in Environmental Earth Sciences on “Advances of Research in Soil, Water, Environment, and Geologic Hazards Along the Silk Road” guest edited by Drs. Peiyue Li, Hui Qian and Wanfang Zhou.

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Li, P., Wu, J., Qian, H. et al. Distribution, enrichment and sources of trace metals in the topsoil in the vicinity of a steel wire plant along the Silk Road economic belt, northwest China. Environ Earth Sci 75, 909 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-016-5719-x

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