Pedosphere 17(5): 588--594, 2007
ISSN 1002-0160/CN 32-1315/P
©2007 Soil Science Society of China
Published by Elsevier B.V. and Science Press
Soil heavy metal pollution around the Dabaoshan Mine, Guangdong Province, China
ZHOU Jian-Min1,2, DANG Zhi1, CAI Mei-Fang1 and LIU Cong-Qiang3
1 College of Environmental Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640 (China). E-mail: jmffzhou@163.com
2 Guangdong Key Laboratory of Agro-Environment Integrated Control, Guangdong Institute of Eco-Environment and Soil Science, Guangzhou 510650 (China)
3 State Key Laboratory of Environment Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550002 (China)
ABSTRACT
      Soil contamination in the vicinity of the Dabaoshan Mine, Guangdong Province, China, was studied through determination of total concentrations and chemical speciation of the toxic metals, Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb, using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The results showed that over the past decades, the environmental pollution was caused by a combination of Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb, with railings and acid mine drainage being the main pollution sources affecting soils. Significantly higher levels (P ≤ 0.05) of Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb were found in the tailings as compared with paddy, garden, and control soils, with averages of 1486, 2 516, 6.42, and 429 mg kg-1, respectively. These metals were continuously dispersed downstream from the tailings and waste waters, and therefore their concentrations in the paddy soils were as high as 567, 1140, 2.48, and 191 mg kg-1 respectively, being significantly higher (P ≤ 0.05) as compared with those in the garden soils. The results of sequential extraction of the above metals from all the soil types showed that the residual fraction was the dominant form. However, the amounts of metals that were bound to Fe-Mn oxides and organic matter were relatively higher than those bound to carbonates or those that existed in exchangeable forms. As metals could be transformed from an inert state to an active state, the potential environmental risk due to these metals would increase with time.
Key Words:  chemical speciation, combined pollution index (CPI), contaminated soil, heavy metals
Citation: Zhou, J. M., Dang, Z., Cai, M. F. and Liu, C. Q. 2007. Soil heavy metal pollution around the Dabaoshan Mine, Guangdong Province, China. Pedosphere. 17(5): 588-594.
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