Earth Science Frontiers ›› 2024, Vol. 31 ›› Issue (2): 77-92.DOI: 10.13745/j.esf.sf.2023.8.22

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Heavy metal pollution in agricultural land around a tailings pond, northern Hubei and ecological and human health risk assessment

GUO Xuehui1,2(), HUANG Renliang1,3, WAN Jianhua2   

  1. 1. School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University,Tianjin 300072,China
    2. 514 Brigade of North China Geological Exploration Bureau, Chengde 067000, China
    3. School of Marine Science and Technology,Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
  • Received:2023-04-12 Revised:2023-06-22 Online:2024-03-25 Published:2024-04-18

Abstract:

In order to understand the characteristics of heavy metal pollution in agricultural land around non-ferrous metal taillings ponds in the mountainous areas of northern Hebei and the ecological and human health risks, a representative Au-Pb-Zn tailings pond and its surrounding agricultural land is selected as the research area. The soil pH and the contents of heavy metals Cd, Cr, Pb, Hg, As, Cu, Zn, Ni in the agricultural soils are determined by physiochemical analysis using ISE, XRF, AFS, ICP-MS methods. Heavy metal accumulation, potential ecological risks, and human health risks are analyzed to evaluate the ecological and human health risks caused by heavy metal pollution in the study area. The results showed that surface soil in the study area was heavily contaminated with Zn, Cu, Cd, Pb, and As to varying degrees with high levels of accumulation, except for As. The potential ecological hazard level was very high, specially for Cd, Pd and Hg. In terms of human exposure and health risks, heavy metal exposure by hand-to-mouth contacts was the main cause of both non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic health risks, and Zn and Pb were of special concerns in terms single element daily exposure levels. In both children and adults regarding hand-to-mouth contacts, the non-carcinogenic hazard level was unacceptable—in children, the risk indices for Pb and As were 11.23 and 1.75, respectively; in adults, Pb was of special concern. In terms of carcinogenic health risks caused by hand-to-mouth contacts, the risk level of Cd exposure was unacceptable in both children and adults, with relevant risk indices of 3.38×10-4 and 1.63×10-4, respectively. In short, risk monitoring and early warning systems should be strengthened in the mining areas, and pollution control measures for at-risk agricultural land should be implemented accordingly to eliminate potential health risks.

Key words: tailings ponds, heavy metals, pollution characteristics, ecological risk, risk assessment

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