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Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering

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Front. Environ. Sci. Eng.    0, Vol. Issue () : 7    https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-016-0873-7
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Assessment of pollution of potentially harmful elements in soils surrounding a municipal solid waste incinerator, China
Ying Han1,2,Huiting Xie1,2,3,Wenbin Liu1,2(),Haifeng Li1,2,Mengjing Wang1,2,Xuebin Chen1,2,Xiao Liao1,2,Nan Yan1,2
1. State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100085, China
2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
3. Division of Environmental Management & Policy?School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
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Abstract

Potentially harmful elements in ambient soil of a MSWI were assessed.

Spatial distribution of potential ecological risk index was investigated.

Health risk assessment of potentially harmful elements in soil was evaluated.

Hg in the soil posed health hazards to the local population.

We assessed the contamination levels of Mn, Zn, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, As and Hg and the risks posed by these potentially harmful elements in top-soils around a municipal solid waste incinerator (MSWI). We collected 20 soil samples, with an average pH of 8.1, and another fly ash sample emitted from the MSWI to investigate the concentrations of these elements in soils. We determined the concentrations of these elements by inductively coupled plasma–optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES), except for Hg, which we measured by AF-610B atomic fluorescence spectrometer (AFS). We assessed the risks of these elements through the use of geoaccumulation index (Igeo), potential ecological risk index (RI), hazard quotient (HQi) and cancer risk (Riski). The results showed that concentrations of potentially harmful elements in soil were influenced by the wind direction, and the concentrations of most elements were higher in the area northwest of the MSWI, compared with the area southeast of the incinerator, with the exception of As; these results were in accordance with those results acquired from our contour maps. According to the Igeo values, some soil samples were clearly polluted by Hg emissions. However, the health risk assessment indicated that the concentrations of Hg and other elements in soil did not pose non-carcinogenic risks to the local populations. This was also the case for the carcinogenic risks posed by As, Cr, and Ni. The carcinogenic risk posed by As was higher, in the range 6.49 × 10−6–9.58 × 10−6, but this was still considered to be an acceptable level of risk.
Keywords Soil      Potentially harmful elements      Contamination      Kriging interpolation      Risk assessment      Wind direction     
PACS:     
Fund: 
Corresponding Author(s): Wenbin Liu   
Issue Date: 27 October 2016
 Cite this article:   
Ying Han,Huiting Xie,Wenbin Liu, et al. Assessment of pollution of potentially harmful elements in soils surrounding a municipal solid waste incinerator, China[J]. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng., 0, (): 7.
 URL:  
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/10.1007/s11783-016-0873-7
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/Y0/V/I/7
Fig.1  The geo-localization of the study area and soil sampling sites around the MSWI
grade value soil quality
0 Igeo ≤0 practically uncontaminated
1 0<Igeo ≤1 uncontaminated to moderately contaminated
2 1<Igeo ≤2 moderately contaminated
3 2<Igeo ≤3 moderately to heavily contaminated
4 3<Igeo ≤4 heavily contaminated
5 4< Igeo ≤5 heavily to extremely contaminated
6 5< Igeo extremely contaminated
Tab.1  The seven grades of the Igeo [14]
metal soil analyzed in this study soil from Italy [26] soil from Newcastle, UK [27] soil from Shenzhen [28] background soil [25] ash analyzed in this study ash from Shanghai [29] ash from Singapore [30]
mean±sd mean±sd mean mean mean±sd mean mean mean
Cr 52±8.2 85±24 55 52 68±16 156 157 72
Mn 546±40 – – – 705±160 994 704 309
Ni 24±3.8 73±24 30 6.0 29±7.5 88 71 22
Cu 28±8.6 69±43 233 12 24±4.7 402 563 570
Zn 100±40 127±135 419 47 103±35 1614 3269 6288
Pb 19±9.0 39±35 350 28 25±6.3 328 1515 2000
As 7.7±2.6 5.9±1.9 20 9.4 9.7±2.5 56 26 –
Hg 0.088±0.064 0.17±0.11 0.50 0.058 0.069±0.051 5.9 3.6 –
Tab.2  Heavy metal concentrations observed in the study area and in other areas around the world (mg·kg−1)
distance Cr Mn Ni Cu Zn Pb As Hg
<500 m 48 555 23 26 99 18 8.0 0.073
500 – 1000 m 49 523 23 23 82 14 8.5 0.067
1000 – 1500 m 59 577 25 35 129 25 6.5 0.11
>1500 m 51 551 25 36 110 29 6.6 0.19
Tab.3  Average concentrations of eight elements in soils from a range of distances from the MSWI (mg·kg−1)
Fig.2  Relationship between wind direction and the concentrations of potentially harmful elements in soil
Fig.3  Geoaccumulation indices (Igeo) for the potentially harmful elements in the soil samples
Fig.4  Spatial risk map associated with potentially harmful elements based on the RI values (unitless)
Fig.5  Contributions of the HQs associated with each exposure pathway for the eight elements (HQing = HQ for ingestion, HQinh = HQ for inhalation, HQderm = HQ for dermal exposure, and HQvap = HQ for Hg vapor)
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