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Spatial distribution and source of potential toxic elements (PTEs) in urban soils of Guangzhou, China

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Abstract

Potential toxic elements (PTEs) in urban soils are of great environmental concern because of their potential long-term effects on human health. A systematic soil geochemical survey was performed across central urban districts of Guangzhou, the largest city in southern China. Surface soil samples (0–10 cm) were collected from 426 sites in order to evaluate the environmental quality of this urban area. Geostatistical and multivariate analysis (principal component, clustering, and correlation) were applied to generate spatial distribution maps of PTEs concentrations as well as identify possible sources of metals. The results showed that PTEs ranged widely in value; Arsenic, Hg, Pb, Cu Zn, Cd, Ni, and Mn ranged from 1.4 to 144, 0.01 to 12.2, 18.5 to 4903, 5.0 to 417, 10.1 to 1795, 0.03 to 2.41, 2.5 to 77.6, and 21.2 to 1286 mg/kg, respectively. Iron ranged from 6.1 to 61.8 g/kg. Soils were enriched with Cd, Cu, Hg, Mn, Pb and Zn as compared with soil background values of Guangzhou. Spatial distribution maps indicated similar distribution patterns of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn. Urbanization history and industrial activities affected the accumulation of PTEs. Relatively higher concentrations of As, Cd, Cu, Hg, Pb and Zn were found in districts with a longer history of urbanization and industrial activities, such as the Liwan district along the Pearl River in western Guangzhou. This area was the most highly contaminated, whereas the Tianhe, a district with a limited time of development, was the least contaminated. Multivariate statistical analysis showed distinctly different associations among the studied metals; suggesting that Fe, Ni and Mn were predominantly derived from a natural (geological) source; As, Cu, Hg, Pb and Zn from anthropogenic sources; and Cd from both sources. Present PTEs levels were also compared with those reported from other urban areas around world, and results indicate that further studies on assessing both the human and ecosystem risks associated with urban contaminated soils will be necessary.

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Acknowledgments

This research was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41271233), and the Department of Sciences and Technology of Guangdong Province (Grant Nos. 2013B020310009, 2014B020206002).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Natural Resources and Environment, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, 510642, China

    Ying Lu & Chongjian Jia

  2. State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, China

    Ganlin Zhang & Yuguo Zhao

  3. National Soil Survey Center, USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service, Lincoln, NE, USA

    Michael A. Wilson

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  1. Ying Lu
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  2. Chongjian Jia
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Lu, Y., Jia, C., Zhang, G. et al. Spatial distribution and source of potential toxic elements (PTEs) in urban soils of Guangzhou, China. Environ Earth Sci 75, 329 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-015-5190-0

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