Identifying the Source of Heavy Metal Pollution and Apportionment in Agricultural Soils Impacted by Different Smelters in China by the Positive Matrix Factorization Model and the Pb Isotope Ratio Method

Abstract

In this study, the agricultural soil around Zhuzhou Smelter in Zhuzhou district, Hunan, China and Huludao Zinc Plant in Huludao district, Liaoning, China was selected as the research area to discuss the current situation of heavy metal pollution in the surrounding agricultural soil caused by different smelting plants for soil environmental management and sustainable development of soil resources. Eight elements’ (Cd, Pb, As, Hg, Cr, Ni, Cu, and Zn) contents were measured to assess their pollution risk level and spatial distribution distinction. Correlation analysis, the positive matrix factorization (PMF), and Pb isotope ratio method were employed to analyze the sources of soil heavy metal pollution in the research area. The contents of Cd, Pb, Hg, and Zn in the soil of the two research areas were seriously polluted, and the changes of their spatial content were related to the migration and sedimentation of the smelter waste gas. Four types of pollution sources, including the smelting source, agricultural sources, natural sources, and mixed sources of industrial activity and traffic were identified in both areas by PMF, and the contribution rates of the four pollution sources in both areas were similar. Taking the agricultural soil around Huludao Zinc Plant as an example, the contribution rates of the different pollution sources analyzed by Pb isotope ratio method were the lead smelting source (43.7%), followed by the agricultural source (34.6%), traffic source (14.2%), and natural source (7.5%), which were basically consistent with that of PMF analysis, verifying the reliability of the two methods. The results above showed that the smelters were the main cause of heavy metal pollution in agricultural soils around the two research areas, and the analysis results of element content ratio and smelting source characteristic element contribution rate ratio could provide reference for the analysis of heavy metal pollution in agricultural soil around smelters for soil pollution control decision making.