Integrated manufacturing of REciclable multi-material COmposites for the TRANSport sector
Assessment of potentially toxic pollutants and urban livability in a typical resource-based city, China
Toxic pollutants are affecting the environment on a global scale. To quantify the extent of the elemental pollution in Peixian, a typical Chinese city, we collected 332 soil samples from agricultural, residential, woodland, and hydrological environments. Using multivariate statistical and geostatistical analyses, the results indicate that contaminants including chromium (Cr), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), and arsenic (As) may share common sources such as commercial activities, coal mining activities, water transportation, power generation, and livestock manure. The presence of mercury (Hg) in the southern part of the study area, however, is almost entirely attributed to nearby mining activities. The value of contamination index was the highest in hydrological environments. Health exposure risk assessments of the elements were also investigated. With the exception of Pb, the potentially toxic elements in the study area do not pose a severe non-carcinogenic health risk. At the levels observed in our study, however, Pb may pose a non-carcinogenic risk to children. Based on these results, the area’s livability is assessed. The urban livability analysis shows that the livability level is higher in the western part of the study area than it is in the eastern part.
» Publication Date: 21/03/2020
This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement Nº 768737
