Key Laboratory of Eco-environments of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region, Ministry of Education, College of Life Science, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China.
Southeast Sichuan Geological Group, Chongqing Bureau of Geology and Minerals Exploration, Chongqing, 400038, China.
Sci Rep. 2018 Feb 19;8(1):3256. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-21569-6.
Soil pollution with heavy metals (HMs) has been attracting more and more interests, however, assessment of eco-environmental and human risks particularly in a rapidly urbanization area (the upper Yangtze) remains limited. Multiple modern indices were firstly performed for complete risk assessment of eco-environment and human health based on a high-spatial-resolution sampling. Averages of HMs were far below grade II threshold level of the Chinese Environmental Quality standards for soils, whereas Cd, As and Hg considerably exceeded the local background values. EF suggested overall moderate enrichments of Cd and Se, resulting in soils uncontaminated to moderately contaminated with them. Potential ecological risk index showed significant differences among Counties that were characterized by moderate risk. However, several sites were moderately to heavily contaminated with As, Cd and Hg by Igeo, resulting in that these sites were categorized as "considerable risk", or "high risk". Moreover, children were more susceptible to the potential health risk irrespective of the carcinogenic or non - carcinogenic risk. There were no significant carcinogenic and non - carcinogenic risks for adults, children however showed significant non - carcinogenic effect. Our first assessment provided important information for policy making to reduce the potential effects of soil contamination on human and eco-environment.
土壤重金属污染引起了越来越多的关注，但在快速城市化地区（长江上游），对生态环境和人类风险的评估仍然有限。本研究首次采用高空间分辨率采样，通过多种现代指标对生态环境和人类健康进行了全面风险评估。重金属的平均值远低于中国土壤环境质量标准的二级阈值，但 Cd、As 和 Hg 明显超过了当地背景值。EF 表明 Cd 和 Se 总体上处于中度富集状态，导致这些土壤处于无污染到中度污染状态。潜在生态风险指数在各县之间存在显著差异，表现为中度风险。然而，一些站点的 As、Cd 和 Hg 污染程度为中到重度，根据 Igeo 分类为“中度风险”或“高度风险”。此外，儿童无论受到致癌或非致癌风险的影响，都更容易受到潜在健康风险的影响。成年人不存在显著的致癌和非致癌风险，但儿童存在显著的非致癌效应。我们的首次评估为制定政策提供了重要信息，以减少土壤污染对人类和生态环境的潜在影响。
