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Potential sources and associated risk assessment of potentially toxic elements in paddy soils of a combined urban and rural area

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Abstract

The contamination of combined urban and rural area is a growing environmental issue due to rapid industrialization in China. This study investigated the eight potentially toxic elements (PTEs) arsenic (As), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), and zinc (Zn) in paddy fields in a combined urban and rural area in Shaoxing city, Zhejiang province. Concentrations of the PTEs were determined in 60 topsoil samples (0–20 cm) collected from paddy fields in a combined urban and rural area in Shaoxing city, Zhejiang province, southeast China. The average contents of Pb, Cu, Zn, Cd, Hg, and As in the paddy soils increased by 23.7, 6.9, 17.0, 79.8, 62.5, and 47.9%, respectively, relative to their corresponding natural background concentrations. The mean contents of Cr and Ni did not exceed their background values. Multivariate statistical and geostatistical methods were used to distinguish between the PTEs (Cd, As, Pb, Zn, and Hg) contaminating the soils of the study area from those (Cr, Cu, and Ni) at background concentrations. About 17.2% of the soils were moderately polluted with PTEs as a result of urbanization. The results may be useful to policy makers in agricultural and urban management.

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Funding

This work was funded by the basic public welfare project of Zhejiang Province (Grant No. LGN18D010004), the Science and Technology Project of Zhejiang Province (Grant No. 2017C03010), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41501238), and the Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province in China (Grant No. LQ16D010006).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Recycling and Ecological Treatment of Waste Biomass of Zhejiang Province, School of Environment and Natural Resources, Zhejiang University of Science and Technology, Hangzhou, 310023, China

    Yanjun Chai, Jin Zhang, Peter Christie & Shengdao Shan

  2. Institute of Environmental Resources and Soil Fertilizers, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou, 310021, China

    Yan Li

  3. Zhejiang Institute of Geological Survey, Hangzhou, 311203, China

    Xiaolei Chen

  4. Department of Geography, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong SAR, China

    Ka Lai Chow

  5. Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China

    Chao Ai

Authors
  1. Yanjun Chai
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  2. Yan Li
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  3. Xiaolei Chen
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  4. Jin Zhang
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  5. Peter Christie
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  6. Ka Lai Chow
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  7. Chao Ai
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  8. Shengdao Shan
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Correspondence to Yan Li or Shengdao Shan.

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Responsible editor: Zhihong Xu

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Chai, Y., Li, Y., Chen, X. et al. Potential sources and associated risk assessment of potentially toxic elements in paddy soils of a combined urban and rural area. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26, 23615–23624 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-05668-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-05668-z

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