[Evaluation of Mercury Pollution in Soil of Different Land Use Types in Coal-fired Industrial Area]

The geo-accumulation index, potential ecological risk index, health risk model, and geographical detector were used to evaluate the soil mercury (Hg) concentrations and assess the health risks for various land use types to reveal the characteristics and spatial variability of soil Hg pollution under different land uses in the coal-fired industrial area of the Loess Plateau. The study area included seven counties in the western part of Xinzhou City, Shanxi province. The results showed that the average ω(Hg) in the agricultural land, grass land, wood land, and residential land were 0.48, 0.34, 0.58, and 0.52 mg·kg^-1, respectively, which were 16.00, 11.33, 19.33, and 17.33 times higher than the background value, respectively. The variation coefficients were ranked as residential land>agricultural land>grass land>wood land. The evaluation results of the geo-accumulation index and potential ecological risk index indicated a high ecological risk of Hg pollution in the entire study area with extreme pollution points in certain aeras. The health risk assessment results indicated no non-carcinogenic health risks for children and adults in the study area from Hg. Additionally, the geographical detection results revealed that the spatial variability in Hg was mainly impacted by industrial and agricultural activities in agricultural land, by soil organic matter and pH value in grass land, by soil salinity in wood land, and by soil salinity and organic matter in residential land. The spatial distribution pattern of Hg concentrations peaked in both the northern and southern edges, with a decreasing trend towards the middle and the majorly polluted areas being caused by human activities such as coal mining and industrial production.