title: Comparison of soil heavy metal pollution caused by e-waste recycling activities and traditional industrial operations.
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.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510640, China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
authors.forename: Kailing
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510640, China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
authors.forename: Zehang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: MOE Laboratory of Groundwater Circulation and Evolution, School of Water Resources and Environment, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing, 100083, China.
authors.forename: Yuanan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510640, China.
authors.forename: Xiangying
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510640, China.
authors.forename: Zhiqiang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: MOE Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China. hefac@umich.edu.
authors.forename: Hefa
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4911-6971
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cheng
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D006801:Humans; D019216:Metals, Heavy; D059027:Recycling; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry; D012989:Soil Pollutants
chemical_list: D019216:Metals, Heavy; D012987:Soil; D012989:Soil Pollutants
keywords: E-waste recycling; Heavy metals; Potential ecological risk; Sequential extraction; Soil pollution; Traditional industrial operations