An approach to quantify heavy metals and their source apportionment in coal mine soil: a study through PMF model

Mining activities in the opencast coal mines contaminate the surrounding soil by releasing coal dust containing heavy metals (HMs). The objective of the present study was to quantify the concentration of HMs like Fe, Cu, Mn, Ni, Cr, Zn, and Co in soil on profile and distance basis in the vicinity of the coal mines. This research also proposed the synthesis application of positive matrix factorization (PMF) model for the quantitative assessment of pollution sources. The results showed that the soil was more affected due to the presence of Cr in mining areas., and the contamination factor (C-f) of Cr was high at the edge of coal mine. It was observed from the study that C-f of the HMs was decreased with the increase in distance from the mine edge. The application of PMF model demonstrated that the contributions of Zn (4.2%), Ni (16.8%), and Mn (100%) were maximum in the pollution. The study concluded that soil contamination is inexorable due to opencast coal mining activities, and it can be mitigated by developing a green belt or through the process of ecological restoration and phytoremediation.

Automated summary

Mining activities in opencast coal mines lead to contamination of surrounding soil with heavy metals, and this study aimed to quantify the concentration of heavy metals in soil near the mines. The positive matrix factorization (PMF) model was used to assess pollution sources. The results showed that soil contamination was mainly due to chromium (Cr) in mining areas, and contamination decreased with increasing distance from the mines. The PMF model identified zinc (Zn), nickel (Ni), and manganese (Mn) as major contributors to pollution. This study concluded that soil contamination from coal mining can be mitigated through ecological restoration and phytoremediation.