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In situ investigation of heavy metals at trace concentrations in greenhouse soils via portable X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy

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Abstract

Soil pollution by heavy metals (HMs) has rapidly become a major threat to vegetable security. Nearly all cultivated soils are at risk of metal accumulation, and greenhouse soils are among the most heavily impacted soils. In this study, a rapid assessment of HMs at trace concentrations was conducted via portable X-ray fluorescence (PXRF) spectroscopy in Shouguang, China. Measurements were made via PXRF under in situ, ex situ and sieved conditions and by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) after acid digestion. The performance of each PXRF measure relative to the ICP-MS method was assessed by linear regression. Redundancy analysis was performed to quantify the proportion of explained variability between the PXRF and ICP-MS data. Evaluation of the possible sources of HMs and their potential risks was then conducted by multivariate analysis. The results showed that the PXRF data were closely correlated with ICP-MS quantification for Cu, Mn and Zn, whereas no significant correlations were found for As, Ni and Pb. The uncertainties of PXRF measurement derived from soil heterogeneity accounted for 20.02% of total variability and those from moisture and particle size accounted for 20.15%. The geo-accumulation index (Igeo) indicated that the greenhouse soils were potentially contaminated by Cu and Zn (Igeo > 0), which can be attributed to anthropogenic activities. Overall, PXRF spectroscopy is promising as a rapid and nondestructive in situ technique for assessing the potential risks of HMs at trace concentrations in greenhouse soils.

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Acknowledgments

This research was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41473073), the Key Frontier Project of Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. ISSASIP1629) and the Key Science and Technology Demonstration Project of Jiangsu Province (Grant No. BE2016812).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Soil Environment and Pollution Remediation, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, China

    Kang Tian, Biao Huang & Wenyou Hu

  2. Key Laboratory of Soil Resources & Biotech Applications, Northwestern Bio-Agriculture Research Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an, 710043, China

    Kang Tian & Biao Huang

  3. Xi’an Botanical Garden of Shaanxi Province, Institute of Botany of Shaanxi Province, Xi’an, 710061, China

    Zhe Xing

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  1. Kang Tian
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  2. Biao Huang
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Correspondence to Biao Huang.

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Tian, K., Huang, B., Xing, Z. et al. In situ investigation of heavy metals at trace concentrations in greenhouse soils via portable X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy. Environ Sci Pollut Res 25, 11011–11022 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-1405-8

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