Source apportionment of soil contamination based on multivariate receptor and robust geostatistics in a typical rural–urban area, Wuhan city, middle China

In this study topsoil samples were collected from 57 sites of Dongxihu District which is a typical Chinese urban–rural combination area, to analyze the causes and effects of 6 heavy elements. (Ni, Pb, As, Cu, Cd, and Hg) Pollution of Enrichment factor, multivariate statistics, geostatistics were adopted to study the spatial pollution pattern and to identify the priority pollutants and regions of concern and sources of studied metals. Most importantly, the study area was creatively divided into central urban, semi-urbanized, and rural areas in accordance with the characteristics of urban development and land use. The results show that the pollution degree of potential ecological risk assessment is Hg>Ni>Cu>As>Cd>Pb, and semi-urban regions> city center> rural areas. Results based on the proposed integrated source identification method indicated that As was probably sourced from agricultural sources (33.99%), Pb was associated with atmospheric deposition (50.11%), Cu was related to industrial source 1 (45.97%), Cd was mainly derived from industrial source 2 (42.97%) and Hg come mainly from industrial source 3 (56.22%). The pollution in semi-urban areas in urbanization need more attention.