Soil heavy metal pollution and health risk assessment around Wangchun Industrial Park, Ningbo, China

Purpose

To explore the soil heavy metal pollution around Wangchun Industrial Park and its health effects on people of different ages.

Methods

In this study, pollution assessment methods such as the \({I}_{geo}\) and the Nemero Comprehensive Pollution Index were used to assess the pollution status of six heavy metals Cd, Ni, Pb, Cu, Hg and As in 32 soil samples collected from Wangchun Industrial Park.

Results

Observed the average concentrations of the six heavy metals exceeded the background values of Ningshao Plain in four heavy metals, As, Ni, Cu, and Hg, but none of them exceeded the screening values of construction land. According to the analysis of local accumulation index and Nemero index, the order of soil pollution and heavy metal concentration is as follows: As > Ni > Cu > Pb > Cd > Hg. The The results of human health risk assessment, adult men, women, and children are at a higher risk of non-carcingenic from ingestion of HMs that are exposed to the route, children are the group at highest risk of As cancer.

Conclusions

Contamination of As, Ni and Cu in the soil of the study area has been primarily influenced by the mixing of nearby industrial activities and other human activities. The appropriate concentration ranges of As, Ni and Cu are as follows: As: 5.4–6 mg/kg, Ni: 21.51–32 mg/kg, Cu: 20.98–31.62 mg/kg, which have little impact on human health.