IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v16y2019i10p1843-d233934.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Heavy Metals in Suspended Particulate Matter of the Zhujiang River, Southwest China: Contents, Sources, and Health Risks

Author

Listed:
  • Jie Zeng

    (Institute of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing 100083, China)

  • Guilin Han

    (Institute of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing 100083, China)

  • Qixin Wu

    (Key Laboratory of Karst Environment and Geohazard, Ministry of Land and Resources, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China)

  • Yang Tang

    (State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550081, China)

Abstract

To investigate the abundance, water/particle interaction behavior, sources, and potential risk of heavy metals in suspended particulate matter (SPM), a total of 22 SPM samples were collected from the Zhujiang River, Southwest China, in July 2014 (wet season). Nine heavy metal(loid)s (V, Cr, Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Cd and Pb) in SPM were detected. The results show that the selected heavy metal(loid)s in SPM appear in the following order: Mn (982.4 mg kg −1 ) > Zn (186.8 mg kg −1 ) > V (143.6 mg kg −1 ) > Cr (129.1 mg kg −1 ) > As (116.8 mg kg −1 ) > Cu (44.1 mg kg −1 ) > Ni (39.9 mg kg −1 ) > Pb (38.1 mg kg −1 ) > Cd (3.8 mg kg −1 ). Furthermore, both the enrichment factor (EF) and geo-accumulation index (I geo ) indicate that SPM is extremely enriched in metal(loid)s of Cd and As, while SPM is slightly enriched, or not enriched, in other heavy metals. According to the toxic risk index (TRI) and hazard index (HI), arsenic accounts for the majority of the SPM toxicity (TRI = 8, 48.3 ± 10.4%) and causes the primary health risk (HI > 1), and the potential risks of V and Cr are also not negligible. By applying a correlation matrix and principal component analysis (PCA), three principal components (PC) were identified and accounted for 79.19% of the total variance. PC 1 (V, Cr, Mn, Ni, Cu, and Pb) is controlled by natural origins. PC 2 (As and Cd) is mainly contributed by anthropogenic origins in the basin. PC 3 (Zn) can be attributed to mixed sources of natural and anthropogenic origins. Moreover, all the partition coefficients (lgK d ) exceeded 2.9 (arithmetical mean value order: Mn > Pb > Cd > V ≈ Cu > Cr ≈ Ni), indicating the powerful adsorptive ability of SPM for these heavy metal(loid)s during water/particle interaction.

Suggested Citation

  • Jie Zeng & Guilin Han & Qixin Wu & Yang Tang, 2019. "Heavy Metals in Suspended Particulate Matter of the Zhujiang River, Southwest China: Contents, Sources, and Health Risks," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-16, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:10:p:1843-:d:233934
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/10/1843/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/10/1843/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dejun Wan & Changlin Zhan & Guanglin Yang & Xingqi Liu & Jinsong Yang, 2016. "Preliminary Assessment of Health Risks of Potentially Toxic Elements in Settled Dust over Beijing Urban Area," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-15, May.
    2. Tingting Wu & Xiangyang Bi & Zhonggen Li & Guangyi Sun & Xinbin Feng & Lihai Shang & Hua Zhang & Tianrong He & Ji Chen, 2017. "Contaminations, Sources, and Health Risks of Trace Metal(loid)s in Street Dust of a Small City Impacted by Artisanal Zn Smelting Activities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-19, August.
    3. Qingzhen Yao & Xiaojing Wang & Huimin Jian & Hongtao Chen & Zhigang Yu, 2015. "Characterization of the Particle Size Fraction associated with Heavy Metals in Suspended Sediments of the Yellow River," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-20, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Xiangyu Zhao & Kuang Cheng & Wang Zhou & Yi Cao & Shuang-Hua Yang, 2022. "Multivariate Statistical Analysis for the Detection of Air Pollution Episodes in Chemical Industry Parks," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(12), pages 1-21, June.
    2. Qianru Man & Lijuan Xu & Mingfang Li, 2022. "Source Identification and Health Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals in Soil: A Case Study of Lintancang Plain, Northeast China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-17, August.
    3. Wenxiang Zhou & Guilin Han & Man Liu & Chao Song & Xiaoqiang Li & Fairda Malem, 2020. "Vertical Distribution and Controlling Factors Exploration of Sc, V, Co, Ni, Mo and Ba in Six Soil Profiles of The Mun River Basin, Northeast Thailand," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-14, March.
    4. Yanzhuo Liu & Shanshan Song & Chunjuan Bi & Junli Zhao & Di Xi & Ziqi Su, 2019. "Occurrence, Distribution and Risk Assessment of Mercury in Multimedia of Soil-Dust-Plants in Shanghai, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-19, August.
    5. Jie Zeng & Guilin Han & Shitong Zhang & Qian Zhang, 2022. "Suspended Sediments Quality Assessment in a Coastal River: Identification of Potentially Toxic Elements," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(7), pages 1-14, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mahsa Tashakor & Reza Dahmardeh Behrooz & Seyed Reza Asvad & Dimitris G. Kaskaoutis, 2022. "Tracing of Heavy Metals Embedded in Indoor Dust Particles from the Industrial City of Asaluyeh, South of Iran," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-19, June.
    2. Tingting Wu & Xiangyang Bi & Zhonggen Li & Guangyi Sun & Xinbin Feng & Lihai Shang & Hua Zhang & Tianrong He & Ji Chen, 2017. "Contaminations, Sources, and Health Risks of Trace Metal(loid)s in Street Dust of a Small City Impacted by Artisanal Zn Smelting Activities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-19, August.
    3. Ewa Adamiec, 2017. "Road Environments: Impact of Metals on Human Health in Heavily Congested Cities of Poland," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-17, June.
    4. Saad S. Alarifi & Abdelbaset S. El-Sorogy & Khaled Al-Kahtany & Mislat Alotaibi, 2022. "Contamination and Environmental Risk Assessment of Potentially Toxic Elements in Soils of Palm Farms in Northwest Riyadh, Saudi Arabia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-12, November.
    5. Dejun Wan & Zhangxiong Han & Jinsong Yang & Guanglin Yang & Xingqi Liu, 2016. "Heavy Metal Pollution in Settled Dust Associated with Different Urban Functional Areas in a Heavily Air-Polluted City in North China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-13, November.
    6. Howard W. Mielke, 2016. "Editorial: Lead Risk Assessment and Health Effects," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-3, June.
    7. Xuemeng Sun & Xiaoping Li & Dongying Liu & Tao Yang & Yanan Zhao & Ting Wu & Yue Cai & Yuwei Ai & Xu Zhang & Jiwen Wang & Rui Yang & Hongtao Yu & Howard W. Mielke, 2018. "Use of a Survey to Assess the Environmental Exposure and Family Perception to Lead in Children (<6 Years) in Four Valley Cities, Northwestern China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-26, April.
    8. Keyu Li & Dong Liu & Zhiqiang Qiu & Mengwei Duan & Xiaodao Wei & Hongtao Duan, 2024. "Human Management Decreased Suspended Particle Size in the Loess Plateau Rivers during the 1980s to the 2010s," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-19, January.
    9. Guoqi Lian & Xinqing Lee, 2021. "Concentrations, Distribution, and Pollution Assessment of Metals in River Sediments in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(13), pages 1-20, June.
    10. Qianru Man & Lijuan Xu & Mingfang Li, 2022. "Source Identification and Health Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals in Soil: A Case Study of Lintancang Plain, Northeast China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-17, August.
    11. Sitong Gong & Hu Wang & Fei Lou & Ran Qin & Tianling Fu, 2022. "Calcareous Materials Effectively Reduce the Accumulation of Cd in Potatoes in Acidic Cadmium-Contaminated Farmland Soils in Mining Areas," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-14, September.
    12. Mengjie Wu & Hongyu Liu & Chunping Yang, 2019. "Effects of Pretreatment Methods of Wheat Straw on Adsorption of Cd(II) from Waterlogged Paddy Soil," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-21, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:10:p:1843-:d:233934. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.