Distribution and sources of mercury in soils from former industrialized urban areas of Beijing, China

Wei Luo, Yonglong Lu, Bin Wang, Xiaojuan Tong, Guang Wang, Yajuan Shi, Tieyu Wang, John P. Giesy

    Research output: Journal Publications and ReviewsRGC 21 - Publication in refereed journalpeer-review

    22 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Fifty-seven typical surface soils and 108 deeper soils were collected from five former industrial sites in Beijing and concentrations of total Hg (∑Hg) as well as pH, total carbon (TC), total nitrogen (TN), total sulfur, and dissolved organic carbon concentrations determined. The mean concentration of ∑Hg in surface soils was significantly greater than background concentrations in the vicinity of Beijing. Forty-eight percent of the samples exceeded the "critical" concentration of 1.0 mg Hg/kg, dry weight in soils, which has been established by the Chinese government. At depths of 0-80 cm in the soil, profile concentrations of ∑Hg also exceeded the background value. There were significant correlations between concentrations of ∑Hg, TC, and TN in the industrial soils. The greater concentration of ∑Hg in most soils could have been due in part to combustion of coal and leakage from industrial processes. © 2008 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)507-517
    JournalEnvironmental Monitoring and Assessment
    Volume158
    Issue number1-4
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2009

    Research Keywords

    • Contamination
    • Hg
    • Metal
    • Pollution

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