Environmental geochemistry study of arsenic in Western Hunan mining area,P.R. China

The geochemical characteristics of arsenic in the soil of the Western Hunan mining area of P.R. China were systematically studied. The results show that the strata of Western Hunan are rich in arsenic and that Western Hunan is a geochemically abnormal region for arsenic. The experimental study on speciation in the strata also indicates that the speciation of arsenic in the Neoproterozoic-Cambrian strata are mainly easily transferred speciation (exchangeable, carbonate-bound, sulfides-bound), which are approaching or exceed 60%. Arsenic content in the main soil of Western Hunan is in the range of 8.8–22.8 μg g⁻¹, the mean value is 16.1 μg g⁻¹, which is larger than the arsenic background value of Hunan soil. The distribution of rock with high arsenic content or high easily transferred arsenic speciation is consistent with the distribution of high arsenic content soil. In the mining region, part soils and river/brook waters were polluted by mine tailings and mining/smelting waste water. The arsenic content in polluted paddy soils and river/brook water is 46.26–496.19 μg g⁻¹, 0.3–16.5 mgL⁻¹, respectively. The positive abnormality and pollution of arsenic in the soil and water affects the arsenic content of the crop and the inhabitants’ health.