Environmental pollution and health risks of heavy metals in the soil around a construction waste landfill

Abstract

This paper attempts to identify the content distribution of heavy metals in the soil around a construction waste landfill, and evaluate their impacts on human health. Firstly, parallel samples were collected from the soil in the study area. Then, seven heavy metals, namely, Fe, Cr, Pb, Cu, Hg, As and Cr, in the soil samples were detected and tested by inductively coupled plasma emission spectrometry, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, and atomic fluorescence photometry, and the vertical distributions of these heavy metals were determined. After that, the cumulative risks of heavy metals in the soil were evaluated by single index method and Nemerow index method. Finally, these heavy metals were subjected to health risk analysis. The results show that the vertical distribution of Cu changed significantly in the soil around the landfill; the cumulative pollutions of Fe, Cu, and Hg in the soil reached the heavy level; the non-carcinogenic risks of As and Cr are relatively high, while Cr poses a carcinogenic risk to the human body. The research results provide effective data support to the site selection and operation of construction waste landfills.