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Potentially Toxic Element Contaminations and Lead Isotopic Fingerprinting in Soils and Sediments from a Historical Gold Mining Site

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  • Lei Tang

    (School of Energy & Environmental Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, 30 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100083, China
    Beijing Key Laboratory of Resource-Oriented Treatment of Industrial Pollutants, 30 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100083, China
    Beijing Geo-Exploration and Water Environment Engineering Institute Co., Ltd., 9 Linglong Road, Beijing 100142, China
    L. Tang and Y. Zhang contributed equally to this work.)

  • Yiyue Zhang

    (School of Energy & Environmental Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, 30 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100083, China
    Beijing Key Laboratory of Resource-Oriented Treatment of Industrial Pollutants, 30 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100083, China
    L. Tang and Y. Zhang contributed equally to this work.)

  • Shuai Ma

    (School of Energy & Environmental Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, 30 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100083, China
    Beijing Key Laboratory of Resource-Oriented Treatment of Industrial Pollutants, 30 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100083, China)

  • Changchun Yan

    (School of Energy & Environmental Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, 30 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100083, China
    Beijing Key Laboratory of Resource-Oriented Treatment of Industrial Pollutants, 30 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100083, China)

  • Huanhuan Geng

    (School of Energy & Environmental Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, 30 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100083, China
    Beijing Key Laboratory of Resource-Oriented Treatment of Industrial Pollutants, 30 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100083, China)

  • Guoqing Yu

    (Beijing Geo-Exploration and Water Environment Engineering Institute Co., Ltd., 9 Linglong Road, Beijing 100142, China)

  • Hongbing Ji

    (School of Energy & Environmental Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, 30 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100083, China
    Beijing Key Laboratory of Resource-Oriented Treatment of Industrial Pollutants, 30 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100083, China)

  • Fei Wang

    (School of Energy & Environmental Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, 30 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100083, China
    Beijing Key Laboratory of Resource-Oriented Treatment of Industrial Pollutants, 30 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100083, China)

Abstract

Lead (Pb) isotopes have been widely used to identify and quantify Pb contamination in the environment. Here, the Pb isotopes, as well as the current contamination levels of Cu, Pb, Zn, Cr, Ni, Cd, As, and Hg, were investigated in soil and sediment from the historical gold mining area upstream of Miyun Reservoir, Beijing, China. The sediment had higher 206 Pb/ 207 Pb ratios (1.137 ± 0.0111) than unpolluted soil did (1.167 ± 0.0029), while the soil samples inside the mining area were much more variable (1.121 ± 0.0175). The mean concentrations (soil/sediment in mg·kg −1 ) of Pb (2470/42.5), Zn (181/113), Cu (199/36.7), Cr (117/68.8), Ni (40.4/28.9), Cd (0.791/0.336), As (8.52/5.10), and Hg (0.168/0.000343) characterized the soil/sediment of the studied area with mean I geo values of the potentially toxic element (PTE) ranging from −4.71 to 9.59 for soil and from −3.39 to 2.43 for sediment. Meanwhile, principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) coupled with Pearson’s correlation coefficient among PTEs indicated that the major source of the Cu, Zn, Pb, and Cd contamination was likely the mining activities. Evidence from Pb isotopic fingerprinting and a binary mixing model further confirmed that Pb contamination in soil and sediment came from mixed sources that are dominated by mining activity. These results highlight the persistence of PTE contamination in the historical mining site and the usefulness of Pb isotopes combined with multivariate statistical analysis to quantify contamination from mining activities.

Suggested Citation

  • Lei Tang & Yiyue Zhang & Shuai Ma & Changchun Yan & Huanhuan Geng & Guoqing Yu & Hongbing Ji & Fei Wang, 2021. "Potentially Toxic Element Contaminations and Lead Isotopic Fingerprinting in Soils and Sediments from a Historical Gold Mining Site," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(20), pages 1-18, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:20:p:10925-:d:658591
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Libo Pan & Guangling Fang & Yue Wang & Lei Wang & Benying Su & Dan Li & Bao Xiang, 2018. "Potentially Toxic Element Pollution Levels and Risk Assessment of Soils and Sediments in the Upstream River, Miyun Reservoir, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-17, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Liping Li & Lanfang Han & Aiju Liu & Fayuan Wang, 2022. "Imperfect but Hopeful: New Advances in Soil Pollution and Remediation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-3, August.

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