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Comparison of soil heavy metal pollution caused by e-waste recycling activities and traditional industrial operations
- Source :
- Environmental science and pollution research international. 24(10)
- Publication Year :
- 2016
-
Abstract
- The traditional industrial operations are well recognized as an important source of heavy metal pollution, while that caused by the e-waste recycling activities, which have sprouted in some developing countries, is often overlooked. This study was carried out to compare the status of soil heavy metal pollution caused by the traditional industrial operations and the e-waste recycling activities in the Pearl River Delta, and assess whether greater attention should be paid to control the pollution arising from e-waste recycling activities. Both the total contents and the chemical fractionation of major heavy metals (As, Cr, Cd, Ni, Pb, Cu, and Zn) in 50 surface soil samples collected from the e-waste recycling areas and 20 soil samples from the traditional industrial zones were determined. The results show that the soils in the e-waste recycling areas were mainly polluted by Cu, Zn, As, and Cd, while Cu, Zn, As, Cd, and Pb were the major heavy metals in the soils from the traditional industrial zones. Statistical analyses consistently show that Cu, Cd, Pb, and Zn in the surface soils from both types of sites were contributed mostly by human activities, while As, Cr, and Ni in the soils were dominated by natural background. No clear distinction was found on the pollution characteristic of heavy metals in the surface soils between the e-waste recycling areas and traditional industrial zones. The potential ecological risk posed by heavy metals in the surface soils from both types of sites, which was dominated by that from Cd, ranged from low to moderate. Given the much shorter development history of e-waste recycling and its largely unregulated nature, significant efforts should be made to crack down on illegal e-waste recycling and strengthen pollution control for related activities.
- Subjects :
- Pollution
Engineering
China
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences
Soil test
Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
media_common.quotation_subject
010501 environmental sciences
01 natural sciences
Soil
Metals, Heavy
Environmental monitoring
Environmental Chemistry
Ecotoxicology
Humans
Soil Pollutants
Recycling
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
media_common
business.industry
Environmental engineering
General Medicine
Soil contamination
Environmental chemistry
Soil water
Soil heavy metals
business
Environmental Monitoring
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 16147499
- Volume :
- 24
- Issue :
- 10
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Environmental science and pollution research international
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....4d00775d52b5bf423afab8cb274b57a1