scholarly journals Potentially Toxic Elements in Oasis Agricultural Soils Caused by High-Intensity Exploitation in the Piedmont Zone of the Tianshan Mountains, China

Agriculture ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 1234
Author(s):  
Wen Liu ◽  
Long Ma ◽  
Jilili Abuduwaili

Considering the pollution of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in the soils of China, the present study analyzed the current state and influencing factors of PTEs in oasis soils using the model of absolute principal component score–multiple linear regression in the piedmont zone of the Tianshan Mountains. The possible non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks of PTEs at current concentrations were also explored using a human-health risk-assessment model. The results suggested that the extent to which potentially toxic elements in the soils of different geographical units in the study area is affected by human activities varies considerably. The PTEs Cd and As in the soils of the Yili River Watershed were the most strongly influenced by human activities, reaching levels of 40% and 59%, respectively. However, in the Bortala River Watershed, Cu, Cd, and As were the most strongly influenced by human activities, reaching levels of 33%, 64%, and 76%, respectively. Geographical units with a high degree of economic development (e.g., the Yili River Watershed) had, in contrast, low levels of PTE pollution caused by human activities, which may be related to the regional economic development structure. The human health risk assessment showed that the non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks of PTEs are currently below the threshold. However, increasing the arsenic content to 1.78 times the current level in the Bortala River Watershed would lead to carcinogenic risk. For the Yili River Watershed, a 3.33-fold increase in the arsenic content above its current level would lead to a carcinogenic risk. This risk should be addressed, and targeted environmental-protection measures should be formulated. The present research results will provide important decision support for regional environmental protection.

Author(s):  
Dragana Pavlović ◽  
Marija Pavlović ◽  
Veljko Perović ◽  
Zorana Mataruga ◽  
Dragan Čakmak ◽  
...  

The primary focus of this research was the chemical fractionation of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) and their presence in several industrialised cities in Serbia. Furthermore, their origin, contamination levels, and environmental and human health risks were assessed. The results indicated that the examined soils were characterised by slightly higher Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn levels than those set by European and national regulations. These elevated Cu, Pb, and Zn concentrations were caused by intensive traffic and proximity to industry, whereas the higher Ni levels were a result of the specific geological substrate of the soil in the study area. The environmental risk was found to be low and there was no enrichment/contamination of the soil with these elements, except in the case of Pb, for which moderate to significant enrichment was found. Lead also poses a potential non-carcinogenic risk to children through ingestion and requires special attention due to the fact that a significant proportion of this element was present in the tested soil samples in a potentially available form. Analysis of the health risks showed that children are more at risk than adults from contaminants and that ingestion is the riskiest exposure route. The carcinogenic risk was within the acceptable limits.


Author(s):  
Liang Xiao ◽  
Yong Zhou ◽  
He Huang ◽  
Yu-Jie Liu ◽  
Ke Li ◽  
...  

Arable land soil is one of the most precious natural resources of Earth, it provides the fundamental material and numerous resources essential for the development of human society. To determine the pollution of potential toxic factors in the surface soil of cultivated land and its risks to human health, concentrations of five different potentially toxic elements (PTEs) were detected in 1109 soil samples collected in Xiangzhou, China, in 2019. In this study, health risk assessment was used to judge the degree of pollution in the study area, the result of Geographic Information System (GIS) was as used to research the spatial distribution characteristics of PTEs, and random forest (RF) was used to assess the natural and man-made influencing factors. We investigated the sources of PTEs through quantifying the indicators, which gave further insights. The main results are: (1) In arable land soil, the average content of PTEs is 0.14 mg/kg cadmium (Cd), 0.05 mg/kg mercury (Hg), 12.89 mg/kg arsenic (As), 29.23 mg/kg lead (Pb), and 78.58 mg/kg chromium (Cr), respectively. The content of As and Pb outpaced the background value of Hubei soil. (2) The human health risk assessment in Xiangzhou indicates that the most important exposure pathway is soil ingestion, occupied about 99% to health risks of PTEs; non-carcinogenic risk from exposure to As, Pb and Cr in soil was higher than the limit (overall potential risk index, HI > 1) for both children and adults. Moreover, carcinogenic risk postured by Cd, Cr, and As was higher than the limit (10−4) through soil exposure for both children and adults, indicating that Cd, As, Pb and Cr in soil have significant effect on people’s health through exposure. (3) We found that the increased PTEs in the arable land soil mainly originated from potential water sources, air and soil pollution sources, breeding farms, and mining areas.


Author(s):  
Chang-Chen Haung ◽  
Li-mei Cai ◽  
Yao-Hui Xu ◽  
Han-Hui Wen ◽  
Jie Luo ◽  
...  

In this research, enrichment factor (EF) and pollution load index (PLI) were utilized to estimate the features of enrichment and contamination of PTEs in farmland soil. Furthermore, combining the spatial distribution characteristics of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) and positive matrix factorization (PMF) to distinguish and quantify the sources of PTEs in farmland soil, and then the potential ecological risk (PER) and human health risk (HHR) model based on PMF are applied to quantify the ecological and human health risks from different sources. Taking Puning District as an example, four sources of PTEs in farmland soil were quantitatively allocated. For ecological risk, the study area is at moderate ecological hazard level, and industrial activities were the greatest contributor. The mean E_r^i of Hg were 69.82, reaching medium ecological risk level. For human health risks, both adults and children have no evident non-carcinogenic risk in the study area. And natural source was the largest contributor to non-carcinogenic risk, followed by agricultural activities. With regard to carcinogenic risk, tolerable risks of soil PTEs in the study area were limited not only for adults but also for children. Furthermore, compared with adults, the health risks of children, whether non-carcinogenic or carcinogenic, were higher than those of adults, and the trends in health risks for children and adults were similar. A comprehensive scheme combining source contribution and risk assessment is conducive to quantitatively assess ecological risks, health risks and priority pollution sources, thereupon provide effective suggestions for protecting human health and preventing and controlling pollution.


Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 613
Author(s):  
Samantha Jiménez-Oyola ◽  
Kenny Escobar Segovia ◽  
María-Jesús García-Martínez ◽  
Marcelo Ortega ◽  
David Bolonio ◽  
...  

Anthropogenic activities performed in the Ecuadorian Amazon have released potentially toxic elements (PTEs) into the rivers, causing severe environmental pollution and increasing the risk of exposure to the residents of the surrounding areas. This study aims to carry out a human health risk assessment using deterministic and probabilistic methods to estimate the hazard index (HI) and total cancer risk (TCR) related to multi-pathway human exposure to PTEs in polluted rivers. Concentrations of Al, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, and Zn in surface water and sediment samples from rivers on the Ecuadorian Amazon were considered to assess the potential adverse human health effects. As a result, deterministic and probabilistic estimations of cancer and non-cancer risk through exposure to surface waters and sediments were above the safety limit. A sensitivity analysis identified the concentration of PTEs and the exposure duration (ED) as the two most important variables for probabilistic health risk assessment. The highest risk for receptors was related to exposure to polluted sediments through incidental ingestion and dermal contact routes. According to the deterministic estimation, the human health risk through ingestion of water was above the threshold in specific locations. This study reveals the potential health risk to which the population is exposed. This information can be used as a baseline to develop public strategies to reduce anthropogenic pollution and exposure to PTEs in Ecuadorian Amazon rivers.


Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 1307
Author(s):  
Jin-Young Choi ◽  
Hyeryeong Jeong ◽  
Kongtae Ra ◽  
Kyung-Tae Kim

Road and industrial origin particulate matters (PM) are a significant source of potentially toxic elements (PTEs), with health risks to the surrounding residents. In Korea for 60 years, although industries, roads and automobiles have increased aggressively, there are still few PTEs data in PM in road-deposited sediment (RDS) of industrial complexes (ICs). Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the PTE composition of on-road PM10 from nine major ICs and its pollution degree in Korea and evaluate its human health risks. The geo-accumulation index (Igeo) and pollution load index (PLI) elucidated that on-road PM10 were severely polluted by Sb, Zn, Ag and Pb. A combination of principal component analysis (PCA) and chemical tracers was used to define the PTEs sources. The results showed that non-exhaust emission from vehicles’ activity is the primary source of PTEs in on-road PM10, and industrial emissions are the secondary source. The riskiest pathway on carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic by on-road PM10 with PTEs was in-gestion. Traffic origin PTEs including Pb, As, Sb and Cd had a more significant impact on carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic health than those of industrial origins. These results could help mitigate public health risks arising from on-road PM10 and improve air quality in ICs.


Author(s):  
Pedro Dinis ◽  
Amílcar Armando ◽  
João Pratas

The Mussulo lagoon is a coastal environment located near Luanda, one of the SW African cities that has been growing more rapidly during the last decades. Geochemical, mineralogical, and grain-size data obtained for the lagoon sediments are analyzed together, in order to establish the factors that control the distribution of some potentially toxic elements (PTEs). Sediments from northern location tend to be enriched in feldspar and, despite some variability in grain-size distributions, in fine-grained detrital minerals; southern lagoon sediments display very homogenous grain-size distribution and are enriched in minerals associated with salt precipitation (halite and gypsum). Multivariate statistics reveal a close link between some PTEs, namely Co, Hg, Ni, and Pb, for which an anthropogenic source can be postulated. On the other end, As seems to be associated with natural authigenic precipitation in southern lagoon sectors. Sediments enriched in clay also tend to yield more Fe, Mn, Zn, and Cu, but it is unclear whether their sources are natural or anthropogenic. Hazard indexes calculated for children are higher than 1 for As and Co, indicating potential non-carcinogenic risk. For the other elements, and for adults, there is no potential carcinogenic or non-carcinogenic risk.


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