title: Association of soil cadmium contamination with ceramic industry: a case study in a Chinese town.
abstract: Soil cadmium (Cd) contamination is attributable to many sources, among which the ceramic industry is probably an important contributor whose relationship will be explored in this study. Upon studying a town in southeastern China that is quite famous for its ceramics, we observed that the soil Cd distribution agreed with the local ceramic industry's distribution in space and time from 2004 to 2014. Ceramic and pigment samples from a typical factory were selected in a case study, and a sediment core from a nearby river was collected. First, an application of the geo-accumulation index suggested that the sediment was very strongly polluted by Cd (mean 1874 mg/kg). Second, sediment dating indicated that the Cd concentration surge and the establishment of the factory were proximate in time (2002-2004). Third, principal component analysis showed high loading of Cd (0.947) solely, suggesting that the factory was most likely responsible for the Cd pollution found in the sediments of a nearby river. Finally, we infer that the soil cadmium pollution in the whole area may be related to the region's prosperous ceramic industry. Local government should reinforce controls of the ceramic industry and implement effective countermeasures.
authors: Geological Survey of Jiangsu Province, Nanjing 210018, China.
authors: Q Lin
authors: QL
authors: Liao
authors: Jiangsu Provincial Department of Land Resources, Nanjing 210017, China.
authors: Cong
authors: C
authors: Liu
authors: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Xianlin Campus, Box 624, 163 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing 210023, China.
authors: H Yun
authors: HY
authors: Wu
authors: Geological Survey of Jiangsu Province, Nanjing 210018, China.
authors: Yang
authors: Y
authors: Jin
authors: Geological Survey of Jiangsu Province, Nanjing 210018, China.
authors: Ming
authors: M
authors: Hua
authors: Geological Survey of Jiangsu Province, Nanjing 210018, China.
authors: B Wan
authors: BW
authors: Zhu
authors: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Xianlin Campus, Box 624, 163 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing 210023, China.
authors: Kai
authors: K
authors: Chen
authors: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Xianlin Campus, Box 624, 163 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing 210023, China. Electronic address: huanglei@nju.edu.cn.
authors: Lei
authors: L
authors: Huang
mesh_terms: D002104:Cadmium / Q000032:analysis*; D002516:Ceramics; D002681:China; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D007221:Industry; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D012989:Soil Pollutants; D002104:Cadmium
keywords: Cadmium contamination; Ceramic industry; Pigments use; Principal component analysis; Sediment core