Supplementary Material for

Probing the distribution and contamination levels of10 trace metal/ metalloids in soils near a Pb/Zn smelter in Middle China

Zhonggen Li1, Xinbin Feng1,*, Xiangyang Bi2, Guanghui Li1, Yan Lin3, Guangyi Sun1,2

1.State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang, 550002, China

2. State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China

3. NorwegianInstituteforWaterResearch,Gaustadalleen 21, Oslo 0349,Norway

Submitted to: Environmental Science and Pollution Research

*Corresponding Author (Feng X.)Phone: +86 851 5891356; Fax: +86 851 5891609; Email:

This electronic supplementary material (ESM) contains 6 Tables and 1 Figure.

Table S1. Average elemental concentrations of Zn and Pb concentrate used in the Zhuzhou Smelter and the corresponding background values of Hunan soils (Factory Records of Zhuzhou Smelter1983, 1995; SEPA 1990)

Elements / Zn concentrate / Pb concentrate / Background values of Hunan soils
Ag / 160 / 782 / 0.11
Bi / 49 / 1247 / 1.05
Co / 30 / 33 / 15
Cr / NA / NA / 71
Ge / 18 / 6.0 / 2
In / 116 / 20 / 0.03
Ni / 17.6 / 23 / 32
Sb / 263 / 2809 / 1.9
Sn / 506 / 415 / 4.3
Tl / 2.06 / 6.9 / 0.61

Note: All unit is in mg kg-1; NA: Cr values of Zn and Pb concentrate were not reported in theFactory Records of Zhuzhou Smelter (1983; 1995).

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Table S2. Recovery (C(element, measured)/C(element, certified) × 100, %) and detection limit of each tested metal/metalloid in four certified reference materials in this study

Elements / GBW07305 / GBW07405 / GBW(E)070009 / NIST 2710 / Average recovery / Detection limit
Certified / Observed / Recovery / Certified / Observed / Recovery / Certified / Observed / Recovery / Certified / Observed / Recovery
Ag / 0.36 / 0.45 / 125.0 / 4.4 / 4.7 / 106.8 / 1.24 / 1.43 / 115.3 / 35.3 / 37.5 / 106.2 / 113.3 / 0.001
Bi / 2.4 / 2.5 / 103.8 / 41 / 38.8 / 94.6 / 50 / 42.9 / 85.8 / NA / 94.7 / 0.01
Co / 18.9 / 19.1 / 101.1 / 12 / 10.8 / 90.0 / 23.8 / 22.6 / 95.0 / 10 / 8.14 / 81.4 / 91.9 / 0.01
Cr / 70 / 66.7 / 95.3 / 118 / 105 / 89.0 / 99 / 99.6 / 100.6 / 39 / 27.8 / 71.3 / 89.0 / 0.1
Ge / 1.4 / 1.5 / 110.0 / 2.6 / 2.8 / 108.1 / NA / NA / 109.0 / 0.01
In / 0.130 / 0.124 / 95.4 / 4.1 / 4.0 / 97.6 / NA / 5.1 / 3.84 / 75.3 / 89.4 / 0.0001
Ni / 34 / 36.8 / 108.2 / 40 / 36.5 / 91.3 / 83.3 / 85.6 / 102.8 / 14.3 / 14 / 97.9 / 100.0 / 0.1
Sb / 3.90 / 3.89 / 99.8 / 35 / 34 / 95.8 / 74 / 63 / 84.8 / 38.4 / 30.5 / 79.4 / 89.9 / 0.001
Sn / 4.6 / 4.3 / 92.4 / 18.0 / 16.1 / 89.5 / NA / NA / 91.0 / 0.01
Tl / 1.16 / 1.06 / 91.4 / 1.6 / 1.56 / 97.5 / NA / 1.3 / 1.14 / 87.7 / 92.2 / 0.001

Note: Unit of certified and observed values, as well as thedetection limitis in mg kg-1; NA: Not available.

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Table S3. The Igeo classes with respect to the soil quality

Igeo value / Igeo class / Designation of soil quality
Igeo≤0 / 0 / Uncontaminated
0<Igeo≤1 / 1 / Uncontaminated to moderately contaminated
1<Igeo≤2 / 2 / Moderately contaminated
2<Igeo≤3 / 3 / Moderately to heavily contaminated
3<Igeo≤4 / 4 / Heavily contaminated
4<Igeo≤5 / 5 / Heavily to extremely contaminated
Igeo>5 / 6 / Extremely contaminated

Table S4. Standards for Cr and Ni contents in the Soil Environmental Quality of China (SEPA 1995)

Elements/Class / Grade I / Grade II / Grade III
pH<6.5 / pH:6.5-7.5 / pH>7.5 / pH>6.5
Cr / Paddy soil / 90 / 250 / 300 / 350 / 400
Dry land soil / 90 / 150 / 200 / 250 / 300
Ni / 40 / 40 / 50 / 60 / 200

Table S5. Average elemental concentrations of flue gas dust captured by the electrostatic precipitator (ESP) and fabric filter (FF) in the Zn and Pb smelting line (Factory Records of Zhuzhou Smelter1983)

Elements / Dust from the Zn line / Dust from the Pb line
Ag / 2150 / 82
Bi / 390 / 480
Co / <5 / <10
Cr / NA / NA
Ge / 39 / 5.8
In / 590 / 58
Ni / <5 / <10
Sb / 880 / 1400
Sn / 89 / 2100
Tl / 119 / 120

Note: All unit is in mg kg-1; NA: Cr values were not reported.

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Table S6. Pearson’s correlation matrix of 16 trace metal/metalloids in the surface soils of the current and previous study (Li et al. 2011)

Elements / Ag / As / Bi / Cd / Co / Cr / Cu / Ge / Hg / In / Ni / Pb / Sb / Sn / Tl / Zn
Ag / 1
As / 0.78** / 1
Bi / 0.86** / 0.88** / 1
Cd / 0.96** / 0.84** / 0.88** / 1
Co / 0.41** / 0.14 / 0.19 / 0.36** / 1
Cr / 0.19 / -0.09 / -0.05 / 0.13 / 0.85** / 1
Cu / 0.86** / 0.74** / 0.76** / 0.87** / 0.38** / 0.20 / 1
Ge / 0.70** / 0.58** / 0.63** / 0.67** / 0.47** / 0.26* / 0.69** / 1
Hg / 0.89** / 0.80** / 0.83** / 0.92** / 0.41** / 0.22* / 0.76** / 0.60** / 1
In / 0.96** / 0.85** / 0.90** / 0.97** / 0.33** / 0.10 / 0.84** / 0.69** / 0.93** / 1
Ni / 0.33** / 0.21 / 0.23* / 0.33** / 0.83** / 0.78** / 0.37** / 0.37** / 0.42** / 0.30** / 1
Pb / 0.95** / 0.87** / 0.92** / 0.98** / 0.35** / 0.13 / 0.84** / 0.68** / 0.95** / 0.98** / 0.34** / 1
Sb / 0.84** / 0.86** / 0.85** / 0.85** / 0.35** / 0.17 / 0.74** / 0.77** / 0.84** / 0.88** / 0.35** / 0.91** / 1
Sn / 0.84** / 0.85** / 0.87** / 0.85** / 0.23* / -0.01 / 0.75** / 0.70** / 0.80** / 0.87** / 0.24* / 0.89** / 0.88** / 1
Tl / 0.54** / 0.86** / 0.75** / 0.64** / -0.06 / -0.26* / 0.53** / 0.47** / 0.58** / 0.63** / 0.11 / 0.69** / 0.73** / 0.78** / 1
Zn / 0.95** / 0.81** / 0.87** / 0.98** / 0.37** / 0.13 / 0.86** / 0.65** / 0.90** / 0.96** / 0.33** / 0.96** / 0.80** / 0.82** / 0.58** / 1

* p<0.05(2-tailed); **p<0.01(2-tailed) and showed in bold.

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Fig. S1 Box-plot of geoaccumulation index (Igeo) of studied elements in soils from different samplingareas

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References

Factory Records of Zhuzhou Smelter: 1953-1980 (1983) Published by Hunan Zhuzhou Printing House, China

Factory Records of Zhuzhou Smelter: second volume (1995) Published by Hunan Press, China

Li Z, Feng X, Li G, Bi X, Sun G, Zhu J, Qin H, Wang J (2011) Mercury and other metal and metalloid soil contamination near a Pb/Zn smelter in east Hunan province, China. Appl Geochem 26(2): 160-166

SEPA (State Environmental Protection Administration) (1990) Elemental background values of soils in China. Environmental Science Press of China, Beijing, China

SEPA (State Environmental Protection Administration) (1995) Environmental Quality Standard for Soils (GB 15618-1995). Beijing, China

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