Sources and risk assessment of toxic elements in the agricultural soil of Tiantai County of Zhejiang province, China

The aim of this study was to quantify the pollution level of toxic elements, their ecological risk and human health hazard in the agricultural soil of Tiantai County, Zhejiang province. A total of 2651 soil samples were collected and analyzed for 13 toxic elements using different analytical techniques. The concentration of Cd, Pb, Hg, Mn, and Zn was higher than the Zhejiang background value in more than 50% of samples. Enrichment factor showed that As, Cd, Hg, Mo, Pb, Se, V, and Zn were anthropogenically loaded and most of the toxic elements showed poor spatial distribution. Nemerow pollution index showed that Chicheng, Shiliang, Pingqiao, Tantou, and Youngxi towns were seriously polluted by toxic elements. Principal component analysis and cluster analysis showed that Co, Cr, Ni, and Cu, whereas, Cd, Pb, and Zn shared the similar source of origin. A large area of Tiantai County experiencing moderate to a serious level of pollution but most of the toxic elements exhibit low risk to the environment except Cd and Hg. Furthermore, children were more prone to health hazards than adults with following order: As > Cr > Pb > Mn. Overall, As and Pb were prominent for pollution, ecological risk, and human health hazards.