Environmental contamination characteristics of heavy metals from abandoned lead–zinc mine tailings in China
China holds large-scale lead–zinc mineral resources; however, mining activities often cause severe contamination by heavy metals. This study systemically assessed contamination by eight heavy metals (Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb, Cr, Hg, Ni, and As) in mine tailings, soil, and groundwater from 27 contaminated sit...
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| Format: | Article |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-04-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Earth Science |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2023.1082714/full |
| _version_ | 1827964140623233024 |
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| author | Wei Han Ruifeng Zhao Wanrong Liu Yujing Wang Shuai Zhang Kang Zhao Jinglei Nie |
| author_facet | Wei Han Ruifeng Zhao Wanrong Liu Yujing Wang Shuai Zhang Kang Zhao Jinglei Nie |
| author_sort | Wei Han |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | China holds large-scale lead–zinc mineral resources; however, mining activities often cause severe contamination by heavy metals. This study systemically assessed contamination by eight heavy metals (Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb, Cr, Hg, Ni, and As) in mine tailings, soil, and groundwater from 27 contaminated sites across China. Regarding mine tailings, 1% of the mine tailing samples were hazardous waste and 20% were class II non-hazardous waste. Regarding soil, Zn and Pb showed the highest mean concentrations, at 5574.67 mg/kg and 2034.88 mg/kg, respectively. The indexes of geo-accumulation (Igeo) of eight heavy metals ranged from −3.62 to 7.67, while Zn, Pb, and Cd showed the highest environmental risk levels as the priority pollutants. The contamination levels of these heavy metals in groundwater were generally in the order of Zn>As>Pb>Ni>Cd>Cu>Hg>Cr. In this study, 20% of the soil and 10% of the groundwater samples exceeded the corresponding quality limits. The content of heavy metals in soil, groundwater, and mine tailing were positively correlated, demonstrating the main pollution source and transport paths. The pollution levels of heavy metals in soil and groundwater were listed in the foremost and moderate positions compared with similar sites from other countries, respectively. These results may help determine the pollution levels of lead–zinc mining regions and direct the remediation activities of target sites to support the environmental management of abandoned mining and tailing waste in China. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T17:11:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-025c98e573c541c498a1a6789d4a37a4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-6463 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T17:11:01Z |
| publishDate | 2023-04-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Earth Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-025c98e573c541c498a1a6789d4a37a42023-04-20T05:52:40ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Earth Science2296-64632023-04-011110.3389/feart.2023.10827141082714Environmental contamination characteristics of heavy metals from abandoned lead–zinc mine tailings in ChinaWei Han0Ruifeng Zhao1Wanrong Liu2Yujing Wang3Shuai Zhang4Kang Zhao5Jinglei Nie6Solid Waste and Chemicals Management Center, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Beijing, ChinaSolid Waste and Chemicals Management Center, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Beijing, ChinaSolid Waste and Chemicals Management Center, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Beijing, ChinaSolid Waste and Chemicals Management Center, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Beijing, ChinaMOE Key Laboratory of Soft Soils and Geo-environmental Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, ChinaSolid Waste and Chemicals Management Center, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Beijing, ChinaSolid Waste and Chemicals Management Center, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Beijing, ChinaChina holds large-scale lead–zinc mineral resources; however, mining activities often cause severe contamination by heavy metals. This study systemically assessed contamination by eight heavy metals (Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb, Cr, Hg, Ni, and As) in mine tailings, soil, and groundwater from 27 contaminated sites across China. Regarding mine tailings, 1% of the mine tailing samples were hazardous waste and 20% were class II non-hazardous waste. Regarding soil, Zn and Pb showed the highest mean concentrations, at 5574.67 mg/kg and 2034.88 mg/kg, respectively. The indexes of geo-accumulation (Igeo) of eight heavy metals ranged from −3.62 to 7.67, while Zn, Pb, and Cd showed the highest environmental risk levels as the priority pollutants. The contamination levels of these heavy metals in groundwater were generally in the order of Zn>As>Pb>Ni>Cd>Cu>Hg>Cr. In this study, 20% of the soil and 10% of the groundwater samples exceeded the corresponding quality limits. The content of heavy metals in soil, groundwater, and mine tailing were positively correlated, demonstrating the main pollution source and transport paths. The pollution levels of heavy metals in soil and groundwater were listed in the foremost and moderate positions compared with similar sites from other countries, respectively. These results may help determine the pollution levels of lead–zinc mining regions and direct the remediation activities of target sites to support the environmental management of abandoned mining and tailing waste in China.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2023.1082714/fullheavy metalslead–zinc minemine tailingsoil and groundwatercontamination |
| spellingShingle | Wei Han Ruifeng Zhao Wanrong Liu Yujing Wang Shuai Zhang Kang Zhao Jinglei Nie Environmental contamination characteristics of heavy metals from abandoned lead–zinc mine tailings in China Frontiers in Earth Science heavy metals lead–zinc mine mine tailing soil and groundwater contamination |
| title | Environmental contamination characteristics of heavy metals from abandoned lead–zinc mine tailings in China |
| title_full | Environmental contamination characteristics of heavy metals from abandoned lead–zinc mine tailings in China |
| title_fullStr | Environmental contamination characteristics of heavy metals from abandoned lead–zinc mine tailings in China |
| title_full_unstemmed | Environmental contamination characteristics of heavy metals from abandoned lead–zinc mine tailings in China |
| title_short | Environmental contamination characteristics of heavy metals from abandoned lead–zinc mine tailings in China |
| title_sort | environmental contamination characteristics of heavy metals from abandoned lead zinc mine tailings in china |
| topic | heavy metals lead–zinc mine mine tailing soil and groundwater contamination |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2023.1082714/full |
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