Assessment of metals in dry-toilet collected matters from suburban areas of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, using biosolids quality guidelines and potential ecological risk index

doi:10.1007/s11783-013-0592-2

Front.Environ.Sci.Eng.

0, Vol.

Issue () : 710-718 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-013-0592-2

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Assessment of metals in dry-toilet collected matters from suburban areas of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, using biosolids quality guidelines and potential ecological risk index

Xuan LIU¹,Zifu LI^1,^*(

),Eric BOSC²,Heinz-Peter MANG¹

1. School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China
2. Action Contre La Faim Mongolia, Diplomatic Compound 95, Ulaanbaatar 16092, Mongolia

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Abstract

Dry-toilet collected matter (DCM) from traditional dry-toilet pits are a potential health and ecological risk in suburban areas. In this study, the characteristics of metals in DCMs from suburban areas of Ulaanbaatar were surveyed. The results indicate that DCMs contain a high percentage of organic matter and nutrients, while heavy metals are at low levels, which shows good agricultural potential. The concentration ranges of Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, and Zn were 11±5, 46±9, 0.08±0.05, 9±3, 17±9, and 338±86 mg·kg^-1, respectively. The concentration of Cd was below 0.5 mg·kg^-1, and a high positive relation was shown between chromium and nickel concentrations. The heavy metals in DCMs were safe for land application but Zn in DCMs was close to the effects range median (ERM), which is toxic in some cases, such as amphipod bioassays. Because it is mandatory to treat DCMs to reduce pathogens, in the case of heavy metal enrichment and agricultural reuse, composting or pyrolysis are better choices than incineration. Compared with global soil background values, the heavy metals in DCMs showed a low level of ecological risk, but a medium level when compared with Mongolian soil background values. The ecological risk of six heavy metals was in the descending order Hg>Cu>Zn>Pb>Ni>Cr and the contribution rate of Hg exceeded 60%.

Keywords heavy metals suburban areas dry-toilet risk assessment

Corresponding Author(s): Zifu LI

Issue Date: 20 June 2014

Cite this article:

Xuan LIU,Zifu LI,Eric BOSC, et al. Assessment of metals in dry-toilet collected matters from suburban areas of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, using biosolids quality guidelines and potential ecological risk index[J]. Front.Environ.Sci.Eng., 0, (): 710-718.

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https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/10.1007/s11783-013-0592-2
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/Y0/V/I/710

Fig.1 Location of sampling sites

Tab.1 Physicochemical properties in DCMs

Tab.2 Metals concentrations in DCMs from UB (dry weight, mg·kg^-1)

Tab.3 Pearson correlation of heavy metals concentration in DCMs

Fig.2 Heavy metal concentration in DCMs and related biologic effects limits (dry weight, mg·kg^-1): (a) Cr concentration in DCMs and related biologic effects limits; (b) Cu concentration in DCMs and related biologic effects limits; (c) Hg concentration in DCMs and related biologic effects limits; (d) Ni concentration in DCMs and related biologic effects limits; (e) Pb concentration in DCMs and related biologic effects limits; (f) Zn concentration in DCMs and related biologic effects limits

Fig.3 Enrichment of Zn in the solid production from further treated DCMs, assumed all Zn remains in the solid product part after DCMs further treated

Tab.4 Potential ecological risk factor (Er) and potential ecological risk index (RI) based on the Mongolia background data and global background data

Fig.4 Ecological risk factor form of each sampling sites, assume that a total of the ecological risk factors is one hundred, the ecological risk factors of Hg is more than 60

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