Objectives To understand the distribution characteristics and potential ecological risks of hazardous elements in soil in Weihe River corn growing area around Xi'an.
Methods The ecological risks of hazardous elements in the soil of Weihe River corn planting area around Xi'an were evaluated by single factor pollution index method, comprehensive pollution index and potential ecological risk index methods.
Results The average levels of As, Hg, Pb, Cd and Cr in Weihe soil around Xi'an are 8.7, 0.047, 30.9, 0.277, 70.7 mg/kg respectively, among which the average values of Hg, Pb, Cd and Cr are higher than the background values of Shanxi soil. The coefficient of variation of Hg and Cd is large. There are two positive correlations between the five contaminants. Using the element background value of soil in Shanxi province as the evaluation standard, the pollution evaluation result show that the single factor pollution index Cd reaches the moderate pollution level while as is at the non-pollution level. From the comprehensive pollution index, the hazardous elements in soil reach the moderate pollution level.
Conclusions The soil in Weihe River corn planting area around Xi'an has different levels of hazardous elements pollution, with Cd and Hg pollution as the main pollutants.
DownLoad: