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ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Pollution Characteristics and Ecological
Risks of Heavy Metals in Soil Near
a Pb-Zn Mine in Northeast China
1
College of Environment, Shenyang University, Shenyang 110044, China
2
Key Laboratory of Regional Environment and Eco-Remediation of Ministry of Education,
Shenyang University, Shenyang 110044, China
Submission date: 2024-06-06
Final revision date: 2024-09-01
Acceptance date: 2024-10-13
Online publication date: 2024-12-04
Publication date: 2025-11-04
Corresponding author
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2025;34(6):7703-7712
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
The heavy metal pollution in the surrounding environment of the Chaihe Pb-Zn Mine in Liaoning
Province has become quite severe, yet our understanding of the chemical speciation and potential
ecological risks of metals in the soil of its adjacent areas remains inadequate. Consequently, this
study collected 28 soil samples from the vicinity of the Pb-Zn mine and analyzed the concentrations
and speciation of Cr, As, Cu, Pb, Zn, Ni, and Cd in the soil. The results indicated that compared to
background values, Cd was the metal with the highest level of exceedance, followed by Pb and Zn,
with over-standard multiples of 62.33, 39.11, and 13.69, respectively. Notably, the average percentage
of exchangeable Cd fractions reached 24.95%, suggesting a high bioavailability of this metal. This
finding is echoed by the risk assessment code results, which indicated that Cd posed a high risk at
53.57% of the sampling sites and a medium risk at 39.29% of the sites. Furthermore, the risk index
calculations revealed that the potential ecological risk in the study area was extremely severe, with
cadmium and lead being the primary sources of risk. In conclusion, the contamination of Cd, Pb, and Zn
in the soil surrounding the Chaihe Pb-Zn Mine is severe and requires urgent remediation measures.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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