ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Spatial Distribution, Pollution Characteristics
and Source of Heavy Metals in Farmland Soils
around Antimony Mine Area, Hunan Province
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1
China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing), Beijing, 100083
2
North China Institute of Science and Technology, Sanhe, Hebei Province, 065201
3
Institute of Disaster Prevention Science and Technology, Sanhe, Hebei Province, 065201
Submission date: 2021-05-19
Final revision date: 2021-07-18
Acceptance date: 2021-09-18
Online publication date: 2022-01-25
Publication date: 2022-03-22
Corresponding author
Chunming Hao
North China Institute of Science and Technology, China
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2022;31(2):1653-1665
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ABSTRACT
The heavy metal pollution of soil caused by mining activities has attracted widespread attention.
This study investigates the spatial distributions, pollution characteristics, and sources of nine heavy
metals (Ni, Cu, Pb, Zn, Cr, Cd, As, Sb, and Hg) in the farmland soil around an antimony mine, Hunan
Province, China. The results show that the average contents of Ni, Cu, Pb, Zn, Cr, Cd, As, Sb, and Hg
are all above the background values of the surface soil in Hunan Province, and the mean concentrations
of Cd and As have exceeded China’s soil pollution risk screening values for agricultural land.
The highest Sb content obtained in this study is 1234.3 times of the maximum allowable antimony
content in the soil. The average content of heavy metal elements in the farmland soil samples shows the
following trend: Sb>Zn>Cr>As>Pb>Ni>Cu>Cd>Hg. The content of each heavy metal in garden land
is higher than that in arable land. Geoaccumulation index analysis results suggest the overall pollution
level of the farmland soil is light. In some areas, the pollution level of Cd has reached moderate to
strong pollution, the pollution levels of Sb and Zn appear to be moderate pollution to moderate to
severe pollution, and the pollution levels of Ni, Cu, Pb, Cr, As, and Hg are at moderate pollution to light
pollution. The correlation analysis and positive matrix factorization (PMF) analysis reveal that As, Sb,
and Hg are mainly caused by the mining activity, the agricultural activity is the main reason for the
accumulation of Cd, and natural factors are the main sources of Cu, Pb, Cr, Ni, and Zn in the study area.