Heavy Metal Contamination, Source Tracing, and Health Risk Assessment in Soils and Sediments
This community investigates the distribution, origins, and ecological or human health risks associated with heavy metals and potentially toxic elements in environmental media. The work focuses on identifying contamination sources and quantifying exposure risks in agricultural soils, river sediments, and surface waters.
The research is dominated by the analysis of heavy metals (including lead, cadmium, and arsenic) and trace elements in soils, surface sediments, and surface water. Recurring methodologies include risk assessment, health risk evaluation, ecological risk analysis, and source apportionment or identification. Specific contexts frequently examined include mining areas, agricultural soils, river basins, and urban environments. The work often maps the spatial distribution of these contaminants and evaluates their potential toxicity to human health and aquatic ecosystems.
The largest share of the community's output is found in lead research, accounting for 5.5% of all lead research, and 11,608 papers here. Cadmium and arsenic also represent significant portions of their respective element research, with shares of 2.9% and 2.0%.
The community comprises 30,204 papers, publishing most frequently in Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, Environmental Science and Pollution Research, and The Science of The Total Environment.
Recent work continues to focus on the distribution of heavy metals in surface sediments and river systems, with specific attention to source apportionment and health risk evaluation in post-earthquake street dust, urban soils in Africa, and volcanic soils in Cameroon.