Soil Heavy Metal Contamination and Microbial Ecological Risk Assessment - A Case Study

Abstract

Yinshan mine is a vital lead and zinc producer affiliated with Jiang’xi copper company, the biggest copper producer in China. In this study, nine soil samples were collected from three different functional areas of Yinshan Mine (main mining areas, farmland near acid mine drainage pipe, soils along the Jishui river). The concentrations of (consider spelling out words) Cd, Cr, Zn, Cu, Ni, Pb were determined by ICP-AES and their potential ecological risks were assessed by single factors. The results revealed that the main mining areas had serious heavy metal contamination from intensive mining activity with a single factor index reaching 8.25(Cd) and 5.06(Cu). The farmland near the acid mine drainage pipe was heavily polluted in the surface soils with a single factor index reaching 3.93(Cd) while the soils along the Jishui river was moderately polluted with single factor index values of 1.60(Zn) for the surface soils, 3.13(Pb) for middle depth and 2.55(Cd) for the deepest sample. Urease test were applied to assess heavy metal contamination in soils.