Probability distributions of arsenic in soil from brownfield sites in Beijing (China): statistical characterization of the background populations and implications for site assessment studies

doi:10.1007/s11783-014-0678-5

Front. Environ. Sci. Eng.

2015, Vol. 9

Issue (3) : 465-474 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-014-0678-5

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Probability distributions of arsenic in soil from brownfield sites in Beijing (China): statistical characterization of the background populations and implications for site assessment studies

Marina ACCORNERO¹,Lin JIANG^2,^*(

),Eugenio NAPOLI¹,Marco CREMONINI¹,Giovanni FERRO³,Federica BELLORO³,Maosheng ZHONG²

1. D’Appolonia S.p.A., Genoa 16145, Italy
2. Beijing Municipal Institute of Environmental Protection, Beijing 100037, China
3. Ingegneria e Servizi Ambientali Ferro S.r.l., Savona 17100, Italy

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Abstract

A probabilistic analysis was performed on soil arsenic concentration data from 4 brownfield sites at Beijing (Chaoyang and Haidian Districts), involved in environmental assessment studies. The available data sets were processed to provide a statistical characterization of the background populations and differentiate “anomalous data” from the natural range of variation of arsenic concentrations in soil. The site-specific background distributions and the existing wide-scale background values defined for the Beijing area were compared, discussing related implications for the definition of metal contamination soil screening levels (SSLs) in site assessment studies. The statistical analysis of As data sets discriminated site-specific background populations, encompassing 88% to 94% of the sample data, from outliers values, associated with either subsoil natural enrichments or possible anthropogenic releases. Upper Baseline Concentration (UBC) limits (+ 2σ level), including most of the site-specific metal background variability, were derived based on the statistical characterization of the background populations. Sites in the Chaoyang South District area had UBC values in the range 10.4–12.6 mg·kg^-1. These ranges provide meaningful SSL values to be adopted for As in local site assessment studies. Using the wide-scale background value for the Beijing area would have erroneously classified most of the areas in the subject sites as potentially contaminated.

Keywords upper baseline concentration site assessment arsenic probability plot

Corresponding Author(s): Lin JIANG

Online First Date: 07 March 2014 Issue Date: 30 April 2015

Cite this article:

Marina ACCORNERO,Lin JIANG,Eugenio NAPOLI, et al. Probability distributions of arsenic in soil from brownfield sites in Beijing (China): statistical characterization of the background populations and implications for site assessment studies[J]. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng., 2015, 9(3): 465-474.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/10.1007/s11783-014-0678-5
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/Y2015/V9/I3/465

Fig.1 Boundaries of the Beijing Districts and location of the investigated sites#1-#4 (Chaoyang and Haidian Suburban Districts)

Tab.1 Raw data statistics

Fig.2 Normal probability plots for arsenic in subsoil from the investigated sites

Fig.3 Data partitioning for arsenic data sets in subsoil from the investigated sites: (a) Site #1, (b) Site #2, (c) Site #3 and (d) Site #4

Fig.4 Fitting of the distributions for the separated baseline data sets in subsoil from the investigated sites: normal probability plot and normal distribution of As baseline population from (a) Site #1, (b) Site #2, (c) Site #3 and (d) Site #4. Bands representing the 95% confidence limits are reported as dashed lines

Tab.2 Recomputed statistics of the baseline populations

Fig.5 (a)–(d): Depth distribution of arsenic concentration data at the sites investigated. Also reported are: 1) the mean and the upper baseline concentration (UBC = + 2σ level or 97.7% probability) referring to the reconstructed baseline populations (encompassing shallow, medium-depth and deep soil samples) and 2) mean value (Arithmetic Mean, AM) and related standard deviation (SD) of As topsoil data (0–20 cm) and the Geometric Mean (GM) suggested by Chen et al. [8], as background value for Beijing Municipality

Fig.6 Arsenic Data Variability in subsoil (data up to 30 m of depth) across the four investigated sites and recomputed statistics for the separated baseline populations: site-specific median values and 97.7% upper limit of the baseline variability (UBC = + 2σ). Also plotted are the geometric mean (GM) and the 95th percentile of the wide-area background distribution of As in Beijing topsoil (vertical dashed lines), according to Chen et al. [8]

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