Heavy metal pollution has become a global concern and a key point of environmental pollution prevention and control due to the growing problems of urbanization and industrialization. Rapidly and correctly apportioning sources of heavy metal is still a great challenge because of the instability of source fingerprints and complex interaction of multiple contaminants and sources. In this study, a research group led by research fellow Zhang Qianru from the Innovation Team of Soil-Plant Interactions of the Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning (IARRP) of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) performed a combination of optimization of pollution source fingerprinting and source apportionment through utilizing two machine classification and screening methods for characterizing the pollution sources of heavy metals in the sediments of an urban river and its surrounding soils, and proposed a new method for source apportionment of heavy metals in farmland soils.

The research results are coupled with a nonlinear source apportionment model and an artificial intelligence machine screening model, which greatly improve the accuracy and effectiveness of heavy metal pollution source apportionment in farmland soils. The results of the study can help city governors better understand the characteristics of heavy metal pollution in the peri-urban ecosystem and devise more effective targeted strategies for reducing heavy metal pollution diffusion.

The research results were published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials (IF=9.038) in an article titled “Source apportionment of heavy metals in sediments and soils in an interconnected river-soil system based on a composite fingerprint screening approach”. Chen Ruihui, a postdoctoral fellow at the IARRP, CAAS is the first author, and research fellow Zhang Qianru is the corresponding author. The research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the National Key Research and Development Program of China, the Innovation Project of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and the National Postdoctoral Program for Innovative Talent.

Chen RH, Zhang QR*, Chen HY, Yue WF, Teng YG*. Source apportionment of heavy metals in sediments and soils in an interconnected river-soil system based on a composite fingerprint screening approach. Journal of Hazardous Materials. 2021. 411: 125125.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.125125