ABSTRACT
Due to the properties of accumulation, non-degradability, and transportation, the heavy metal pollution issue has been focused on for several decades. The majority source of HMs contamination is a mining operation. In the present study, an abandoned mine located in Hainan Province, China, has been chosen to investigate the adverse impact of the mining operation. There were 39 soil samples and seven groundwater samples from a total of 36 sampling sites. Ni, Cr, Zn, Cd, As, Cu, Pb, and Hg were detected, while the concentration of Zn and Ni from groundwater exceeded the limit of 3 levels. The Single Pollution Index (SPI), Geoaccumulation Index (GI), and Nemerow Composite Pollution Index (NCPI) were applied to examine the level of HMs contamination. All results of SPI and NCPI were under the safety level. The mean SPIs followed the descending order by Pb (0.18), Cu (0.10), As (0.09), Zn (0.09), Ni (0.06), Cr (0.02), Hg (0.0018). The Geoaccumulation Index provides that Cr and Hg are mainly extremely exceeded; Cu, Pb, Ni, and Zn are mainly moderately and strongly exceeded, as is mainly safety and slightly exceeded. The results of the ecological risk analysis were all less than 40, which means no potential ecological risks. The hazard quotient (HQ) indicates the potential non-carcinogenic risk for a certain HM. All values of HQ were significantly less than the limit of 1, which means stay a safety level. The carcinogenic risk of As by oral was greater than 1.00E-06, which means oral ingestion of As might have carcinogenic risks.
