ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Pollution Assessment of Heavy Metals in Soils
and Plants around a Molybdenum Mine
in Central China
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1
College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F university, Key Laboratory of Plant Nutrition and Agro-environment in Northwest China, Ministry of Agriculture, Yangling, Shaanxi, China
2
Provincial Key Laboratory of Mineral Exploration and Utilization, Shaanxi, Xi’an Testing and Quality Supervision Center for Geological and Mineral Products, Ministry of Land and Resources, Xi’an, Shaanxi, China
3
Institute of Hydrogeology and Environmental Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Shijiazhuang, China
Submission date: 2017-11-16
Final revision date: 2018-01-08
Acceptance date: 2018-01-22
Online publication date: 2018-08-01
Publication date: 2018-11-20
Corresponding author
Wenxiang He
College of natural resources and environment, Northwest A&F university, Key Laboratory of Plant Nutrition and Agro-environment in Northwest China, Ministry of Agriculture
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2019;28(1):123-133
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ABSTRACT
Although environmental problems caused by metal mining have become increasingly prominent,
the pollution by associated heavy metals is easily neglected. In general, molybdenum mines are lowgrade
and hence the high level of associated heavy metals easily causes pollution in the surrounding
areas. Here we investigated the total concentrations and forms of Mo and associated Cu, Cd, Pb, and
Zn in soils under different land-use types (barren, wheat, rape, and apple-seedling fields) and different
plants (cultivated crops and wild wormwood) around an abandoned molybdenum tailings site. The results
showed that the average total concentrations of Cu and Zn in farmland bulk soils around the site exceeded
the level II standard of the National Environmental Quality Standard for Soils in China, the average Cd
and Pb concentrations exceeded the level III standard, and the average Mo concentration exceeds the soil
background value in Shaanxi Province. The percentages of available heavy metals in wormwood and
seedling rhizosphere soils were significantly higher than those in crop rhizosphere soils. Heavy metals
mainly accumulated in the roots of plants tested in this study. The Cu, Cd, and Pb concentrations in
wormwood exceeded the limits of these metals in general plants. The Cd and Pb pollution indices of corn
at the side of the barren land were 3.12 and 2.48, respectively, and the Pb pollution index of rape was 3.42,
according to the standard limit of pollutants in food for China. On the basis of the level III standard, the
pollution assessment of soils revealed serious pollution of the barren land and wheat fields, and moderate
pollution of the rape and seedling fields. This study indicates that the heavy metals associated with
the molybdenum mine have polluted the surrounding soils and plants, of which pollution of the barren
land is the most serious.