Assessment and source apportionment of toxic metal in soils using integrated positive matrix factorization and Bayesian maximum entropy: A case study in Z county, southeastern China

Soil pollution by toxic metals has become an important environmental problem over the last several decades. Because of environmental factor variation, specific spatial patterns of pollution and sources exist. However, commonly used methods rarely take natural spatial heterogeneity into account. Posi...

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Main Authors: Xufeng Fei, George Christakos, Zhaohan Lou, Rui Xiao, Xiaonan Lv, Zhouqiao Ren
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2022-12-01
Series:Ecological Indicators
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X22011207
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author Xufeng Fei
George Christakos
Zhaohan Lou
Rui Xiao
Xiaonan Lv
Zhouqiao Ren
author_facet Xufeng Fei
George Christakos
Zhaohan Lou
Rui Xiao
Xiaonan Lv
Zhouqiao Ren
author_sort Xufeng Fei
collection DOAJ
description Soil pollution by toxic metals has become an important environmental problem over the last several decades. Because of environmental factor variation, specific spatial patterns of pollution and sources exist. However, commonly used methods rarely take natural spatial heterogeneity into account. Positive matrix factorization and Bayesian maximum entropy models combined with specific environmental factors were proposed for quantitative source apportionment to account for spatial heterogeneity. The proposed method was implemented in a region located in southeastern China using dense samples (3627 total samples containing Cd, Hg, As, Pb, Cr, Cu, Zn and Ni data). The results showed that more than one-fifth of soils in the northwest, north-central and southeast of the study region exhibited different degrees of integrated pollution. Cd, Cu and As were the main pollutants, with proportions that exceeded the national standards of 26%, 10% and 7%, respectively. In addition, Cd was the primary element responsible for ecological risk, and As was the greatest hazard to human health. Five main pollution sources were extracted: 72.11% of the toxic metal pollution could be ascribed to anthropogenic sources, and natural sources explained the remaining 27.89%. Traffic emissions (24.31%) consistent with the major road distribution were the main source of Pb and Zn, and atmospheric deposition during the coal combustion (18.04%) distributed across the study area, except for the southeastern mountain areas, was the main source of Hg. Agricultural activities (16.81%) distributed mainly in the north-central regions contributed the most to Cd and Cu, and industrial activities (12.95%) clustered in the northwestern areas contributed the most to As. In addition, natural sources were closely linked to Ni and Cr in the southeastern mountain areas.
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spelling doaj.art-1092abc6765340db9fba96bd7eb5f9f52022-12-22T03:47:50ZengElsevierEcological Indicators1470-160X2022-12-01145109647Assessment and source apportionment of toxic metal in soils using integrated positive matrix factorization and Bayesian maximum entropy: A case study in Z county, southeastern ChinaXufeng Fei0George Christakos1Zhaohan Lou2Rui Xiao3Xiaonan Lv4Zhouqiao Ren5Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou, China; Key Laboratory of Information Traceability of Agriculture Products, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, ChinaDepartment of Geography, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USAZhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou, ChinaSchool of Remote Sensing and Information Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan, ChinaZhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou, China; Key Laboratory of Information Traceability of Agriculture Products, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, ChinaZhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou, China; Key Laboratory of Information Traceability of Agriculture Products, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, China; Corresponding author.Soil pollution by toxic metals has become an important environmental problem over the last several decades. Because of environmental factor variation, specific spatial patterns of pollution and sources exist. However, commonly used methods rarely take natural spatial heterogeneity into account. Positive matrix factorization and Bayesian maximum entropy models combined with specific environmental factors were proposed for quantitative source apportionment to account for spatial heterogeneity. The proposed method was implemented in a region located in southeastern China using dense samples (3627 total samples containing Cd, Hg, As, Pb, Cr, Cu, Zn and Ni data). The results showed that more than one-fifth of soils in the northwest, north-central and southeast of the study region exhibited different degrees of integrated pollution. Cd, Cu and As were the main pollutants, with proportions that exceeded the national standards of 26%, 10% and 7%, respectively. In addition, Cd was the primary element responsible for ecological risk, and As was the greatest hazard to human health. Five main pollution sources were extracted: 72.11% of the toxic metal pollution could be ascribed to anthropogenic sources, and natural sources explained the remaining 27.89%. Traffic emissions (24.31%) consistent with the major road distribution were the main source of Pb and Zn, and atmospheric deposition during the coal combustion (18.04%) distributed across the study area, except for the southeastern mountain areas, was the main source of Hg. Agricultural activities (16.81%) distributed mainly in the north-central regions contributed the most to Cd and Cu, and industrial activities (12.95%) clustered in the northwestern areas contributed the most to As. In addition, natural sources were closely linked to Ni and Cr in the southeastern mountain areas.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X22011207Toxic metalPositive matrix factorizationBayesian maximum entropySpatial heterogeneityEnvironmental proxies
spellingShingle Xufeng Fei
George Christakos
Zhaohan Lou
Rui Xiao
Xiaonan Lv
Zhouqiao Ren
Assessment and source apportionment of toxic metal in soils using integrated positive matrix factorization and Bayesian maximum entropy: A case study in Z county, southeastern China
Ecological Indicators
Toxic metal
Positive matrix factorization
Bayesian maximum entropy
Spatial heterogeneity
Environmental proxies
title Assessment and source apportionment of toxic metal in soils using integrated positive matrix factorization and Bayesian maximum entropy: A case study in Z county, southeastern China
title_full Assessment and source apportionment of toxic metal in soils using integrated positive matrix factorization and Bayesian maximum entropy: A case study in Z county, southeastern China
title_fullStr Assessment and source apportionment of toxic metal in soils using integrated positive matrix factorization and Bayesian maximum entropy: A case study in Z county, southeastern China
title_full_unstemmed Assessment and source apportionment of toxic metal in soils using integrated positive matrix factorization and Bayesian maximum entropy: A case study in Z county, southeastern China
title_short Assessment and source apportionment of toxic metal in soils using integrated positive matrix factorization and Bayesian maximum entropy: A case study in Z county, southeastern China
title_sort assessment and source apportionment of toxic metal in soils using integrated positive matrix factorization and bayesian maximum entropy a case study in z county southeastern china
topic Toxic metal
Positive matrix factorization
Bayesian maximum entropy
Spatial heterogeneity
Environmental proxies
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X22011207
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