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Journal of Arid Land
Journal of Arid Land  2020, Vol. 12 Issue (6): 1001-1017    DOI: 10.1007/s40333-020-0029-2
Research article     
Geochemical baseline determination and contamination of heavy metals in the urban topsoil of Fuxin City, China
ZHANG Hua, YU Miao, XU Hongjia, WEN Huan, FAN Haiyan, WANG Tianyi, LIU Jiangang*()
School of Geography, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian 116029, China
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Abstract  

Urban topsoil is the most frequent interface between human society and natural environment. The accumulation of heavy metals in the urban topsoil has a direct effect on residents' life and health. The geochemical baseline of heavy metals is an objective description of the general level of heavy metals in the urban topsoil. Meanwhile, the determination of geochemical baseline is necessary for regional environmental management, especially in coal cities prone to heavy metal pollution. Heavy metal pollution has become an environmental problem in Fuxin City, China for a long time. To establish the geochemical baseline of heavy metals in the topsoil of Fuxin City and to evaluate the ecological risk of the topsoil, we collected 75 topsoil samples (0-20 cm) and analyzed the concentrations of Cu, Ni, Zn, Pb, Cr, Cd, Hg and As through X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, atomic absorption spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry. We determined the geochemical baseline of heavy metals in the topsoil of Fuxin City by using iteration removal, box-whisker plot, cumulative frequency curve and reference metal normalization; evaluated the contamination risk and ecological risk of the topsoil by using the baseline factor index, Nemerow index and Hakanson potential ecological risk index; and identified the source category of heavy metals in the topsoil by using a pedigree clustering heatmap. Results showed that the geochemical baseline values were 42.86, 89.34, 92.23, 60.55, 145.21, 0.09, 0.08 and 4.17 mg/kg for Cu, Ni, Zn, Pb, Cr, Cd, Hg and As, respectively. The results of Nemerow index and Hakanson potential ecological risk index indicated that the urban topsoil in the study area was slightly contaminated and suffering low potential ecological risk. The main contaminated areas dominated in the middle part and northeast part of the study area, especially in the western Haizhou Strip Mine. The result of baseline factor index indicated that Hg and Cd were the major pollution elements. Using a pedigree clustering heatmap, we divided the sources of these heavy metals into three types: type I for Ni and Cr, largely represented the enrichment of heavy metals from natural sources; type II for Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd and As, mainly represented the enrichment of heavy metals from anthropogenic sources; and type III for Hg, represented the form of both natural and anthropogenic inputs.

Key words： heavy metals      urban topsoil      geochemical baseline      contamination index      pedigree clustering heatmap     
Received: 02 November 2019      Published: 10 November 2020
Corresponding Authors:
About author: *LIU Jiangang (E-mail: liujiangang@lnnu.edu.cn)
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Cite this article:

ZHANG Hua, YU Miao, XU Hongjia, WEN Huan, FAN Haiyan, WANG Tianyi, LIU Jiangang. Geochemical baseline determination and contamination of heavy metals in the urban topsoil of Fuxin City, China. Journal of Arid Land, 2020, 12(6): 1001-1017.

URL:

http://jal.xjegi.com/10.1007/s40333-020-0029-2     OR     http://jal.xjegi.com/Y2020/V12/I6/1001

Fig. 1 Sampling sites and distribution in the urban topsoil of Fuxin City
Functional area Item Cu
(mg/kg)		 Ni
(mg/kg)		 Zn
(mg/kg)		 Pb
(mg/kg)		 Cr
(mg/kg)		 Cd
(mg/kg)		 Hg
(mg/kg)		 As
(mg/kg)
Whole
study
area		 Minimum 20.00 38.50 40.17 27.85 75.26 0.02 0.03 0.73
Maximum 156.58 207.45 510.16 168.95 1095.42 1.18 0.64 8.40
Average 45.13 91.84 107.96 63.15 162.50 0.13 0.11 4.36
CV (%) 36.54 36.23 61.51 32.31 73.01 132.05 93.08 53.67
Traffic
area		 Minimum 29.56 51.08 41.78 34.35 98.53 0.05 0.03 1.32
Maximum 72.70 146.16 279.58 168.95 239.47 1.18 0.44 8.40
Average 48.84 95.03 117.18 69.01 148.47 0.28 0.12 5.33
CV (%) 20.60 28.73 49.37 44.97 29.32 120.72 82.48 38.84
Industrial
mining
area		 Minimum 26.36 44.79 49.01 39.92 104.00 0.03 0.04 0.94
Maximum 156.58 186.23 334.21 112.33 276.42 0.21 0.64 8.11
Average 50.22 91.31 120.67 60.96 146.69 0.10 0.16 4.65
CV (%) 58.45 42.36 53.62 30.55 28.95 45.96 92.00 46.96
Commercial
area		 Minimum 32.75 48.72 75.52 27.85 75.26 0.03 0.06 1.00
Maximum 73.50 121.01 200.05 128.11 197.05 0.18 0.57 8.09
Average 47.24 76.01 110.82 62.63 152.08 0.11 0.13 4.83
CV (%) 27.03 31.90 29.74 33.14 25.02 31.74 94.97 46.60
Residential
area		 Minimum 27.16 51.86 44.56 43.63 87.58 0.03 0.04 0.73
Maximum 57.52 136.73 510.16 77.98 186.79 0.15 0.24 8.28
Average 39.20 95.24 103.77 62.32 127.95 0.07 0.09 4.10
CV (%) 17.93 28.35 106.10 13.79 25.96 50.56 53.56 64.62
Green
space area		 Minimum 20.00 38.50 40.17 31.56 106.74 0.02 0.03 1.38
Maximum 51.93 207.45 141.40 77.05 1095.42 0.21 0.16 6.22
Average 40.16 101.63 87.36 60.84 237.28 0.09 0.06 2.88
CV (%) 22.30 39.48 28.35 24.45 100.42 64.24 48.63 57.24
Distribution pattern L N L L L L L L
Background value of Liaoning Provincea 19.80 25.60 63.50 21.40 57.90 0.11 0.04 8.80
Table 1 Concentrations of heavy metals in the urban topsoil of Fuxin City
Fig. 2 Geochemical baseline values calculated by the box-whisker method
Fig. 3 Geochemical baseline values calculated by the cumulative frequency curve
Element Al Fe Ti Rb Regression equation R2 P
Cu -0.256* 0.272* -0.340** -0.200 y= -59.97x+70.54 0.99 0.00
Ni 0.073 0.314** 0.132 -0.007 y= -27.12x+5.65 0.92 0.00
Zn -0.444** 0.093 -0.268* -0.284* y= -31.05x+320.33 0.98 0.00
Pb 0.057 0.079 0.315** 0.042 y= -15.08x+52.60 0.89 0.01
Cr 0.107 0.566** 0.275* -0.016 y= -52.81x-7.97 0.98 0.00
Cd -0.457** 0.016 -0.278* -0.321** y= -0.04x+0.38 0.97 0.00
Hg -0.306** -0.265* -0.108 -0.038 y= -0.03x+0.29 0.96 0.00
As -0.179 0.060 -0.328** -0.148 y= -16.52x+11.28 0.99 0.00
Table 2 Correlation coefficients and regression equations of inert element and active element
Element Cumulative frequency curve Reference metal normalization
(mg/kg)		 Box-
Whisker
(mg/kg)		 Iteration removal
(mg/kg)		 Final
value
(mg/kg)		 Background value of Liaoning Province (mg/kg)
First
bend
(mg/kg)		 Second
bend
(mg/kg)		 Baseline value
(mg/kg)
Cu 59.25 44.93 42.08 44.93 42.34 42.08 42.86 19.80
Ni 97.50 93.06 84.62 93.06 92.33 87.35 89.34 25.60
Zn 110.00 105.47 87.87 105.47 86.77 88.82 92.23 63.50
Pb 50.25 59.09 58.73 59.09 60.80 63.56 60.55 21.40
Cr 141.00 161.51 140.01 161.51 141.63 137.69 145.21 57.90
Cd 0.10 0.11 0.09 0.11 0.08 0.08 0.09 0.11
Hg 0.09 0.10 0.07 0.10 0.07 0.07 0.08 0.04
As 7.30 4.25 3.88 4.25 4.95 3.58 4.17 8.80
Table 3 Geochemical baseline values computed by various methods in the urban topsoil of Fuxin City
Sampling site Cu
(mg/kg)		 Ni
(mg/kg)		 Zn
(mg/kg)		 Pb
(mg/kg)		 Cr
(mg/kg)		 Cd
(mg/kg)		 Hg
(mg/kg)		 As
(mg/kg)		 Reference
Baotou, Inner Mongolia 20.37 17.98 61.42 23.52 118.47 - - 8.65 Zhu et al. (2016)
Bayan Obo, Inner Mongolia 26.46 29.16 76.71 29.07 124.37 - - 16.09 Zhu et al. (2016)
Dexing, Jiangxi 58.90 - 138.54 54.61 72.87 0.37 0.100 14.00 Liu et al. (2014)
Urumqi, Xinjiang 94.54 43.28 294.47 53.53 54.28 1.17 - - Wei et al. (2010)
Zigong, Sichuan 23.10 24.50 62.00 28.20 66.40 0.18 0.037 3.86 Li et al. (2012)
Chengdu, Sichuan - 32.00 535.00 281.00 110.00 2.94 0.630 28.60 Shi et al. (2012)
Tongling, Anhui 47.70 25.20 113.00 39.00 73.50 0.33 0.051 24.30 Jia et al. (2019)
Suzhou, Anhui 16.97 - 48.66 19.43 65.22 - - 9.07 Gao et al. (2018)
Yanzhou, Shandong 34.34 33.27 89.86 27.39 75.27 0.14 0.069 7.77 Zhang (2007)
Fuxin, Liaoning 42.86 89.34 92.23 60.55 145.21 0.09 0.080 4.17 This study
Table 4 Comparison of geochemical baseline value with other literature
Fig. 4 Pi (contamination index) values for heavy metals in the urban topsoil of Fuxin City
Functional area PN value RI value
Range Mean Rating range Range Mean Rating range
Whole study area 0.80-9.56 1.96 Precaution-seriously 56.63-483.98 131.54 Low-considerable
Traffic area 1.12-9.56 2.93 Slightly-seriously 77.39-483.98 186.78 Moderately-considerable
Industrial mining area 1.11-6.09 2.04 Slightly-seriously 95.49-381.92 148.22 Low-considerable
Commercial area 1.11-5.33 1.66 Slightly-seriously 89.26-324.03 132.03 Low-considerable
Residential area 1.10-4.07 1.53 Slightly-seriously 63.59-154.11 98.54 Low-moderately
Green space area 0.80-5.50 1.64 Precaution-seriously 56.63-159.19 92.12 Low-moderately
Table 5 PN (Nemerow index) and RI (Hakanson potential ecological risk index) values for heavy metals in the urban topsoil of Fuxin City
Fig. 5 Spatial distribution of PN (Nemerow index) value in the urban topsoil of Fuxin City
Fig. 6 Spatial distribution of RI (Hakanson potential ecological risk index) value in the urban topsoil of Fuxin City
Fig. 7 Pedigree clustering heatmap of heavy metals in the urban topsoil of Fuxin City. The color key represents a weighted value of each element concentration. A high color key value represents the severe enrichment (such as red), whereas a low value represents the low enrichment (such as purple).
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