Sources identification and potential ecological risk assessment of heavy metal pollution in farmland soils at the southern foot of the Greater Khingan Mountains (Inner Mongolia section) based on the PMF model
To understand the characteristics and sources of heavy metal pollution in Inner Mongolia soil, 140 samples of surface soil from farmland at the southern foot of the Greater Khingan Mountains (Inner Mongolia section) were collected. The contents of Cr, Pb, Cd, As, Hg, Ni, Cu, and Zn were detected by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry and atomic fluorescence spectrophotometry. Pearson correlation analysis was adopted to reveal the correlations between elements, and Kriging spatial interpolation was combined to draw pollution distribution maps. The positive definite matrix factorization model (PMF) was used to quantitatively analyze pollution sources. A potential ecological risk assessment model based on the source was introduced to achieve precise coupling between pollution source contributions and ecological risk contributions. The results showed that the average contents of heavy metal elements were all lower than the soil pollution risk screening values, but higher than the soil background values of Inner Mongolia. Cr and Hg exhibited high spatial variability and were greatly affected by human activities. Among the heavy metals, Cd and Hg posed significant ecological risk, while the other heavy metals posed low ecological risk; the overall potential ecological risk was at a moderate level. The main sources of heavy metals in the farmland soil of the study area were industrial transportation activities, agricultural activities, mineral mining activities, transportation activities, and weathering of soil parent material. The contribution rates of each pollution source were 37.41%, 18.10%, 13.72%, 12.03%, and 7.75%, respectively. The agricultural source with the highest average potential ecological risk index among all pollution sources was 66.89, followed by the industrial transportation source at 63.78, and then the transportation and mineral extraction sources at 19.30 and 11.36, respectively. The natural source was the smallest at 11.30. Cd and Hg were the priority control elements, while the agricultural source was the priority control source. The research results can provide scientific and reasonable guidance for the precise control of heavy metal pollution in farmland soil in Inner Mongolia.
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