Publications by authors named "Benle Liu"

Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates how trace metal fractions in soil from strawberry cultivation impact the uptake of metals in strawberries and their associated risks in the food chain.
  • Results indicate that acid-soluble metals like Cr, Cd, and Ni are significantly higher in soil used for strawberry production compared to open fields, leading to increased metal uptake in strawberries.
  • Recommendations include optimizing nitrogen and organic fertilizer use to prevent soil acidification and reduce the transfer of harmful metals like Cr and Cd, while promoting safer forms of these metals in the soil.
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Growing concern has been paid to metals in soil-strawberry system. In contrast, few attempts have been made to investigate bioaccessible metals in strawberries and further assess health risk based on bioaccessible metals. Moreover, the connections between soil parameters (e.

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Article Synopsis
  • Identified toxic elements (PTEs) in a mining area in Southwestern China, focusing on mercury (Hg), thallium (Tl), and arsenic (As), and assessed their health risks.
  • The study used Hg isotope techniques and a Positive Matrix Factorization model to trace the sources of pollution, showing that historical mining activities contributed significantly to PTE levels, with Hg, Tl, and As being the most affected.
  • Results indicated higher non-carcinogenic health risks associated with these elements compared to others, emphasizing the need for ongoing monitoring and restoration efforts in impacted areas to manage health risks effectively.
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Hyperspectral techniques are promising alternatives to traditional methods of investigating potentially toxic metal(loid) contamination. In this study, hyperspectral technology combined with partial least squares regression (PLSR) and extreme learning machine (ELM) established estimation models to predict the contents of copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb) and tin (Sn) in multi-media environments (mine tailings, soils and sediments) surrounding abandoned mineral processing plants in a typical tin-polymetallic mineral agglomeration in Guangxi Autonomous Region. Four spectral preprocessing methods, Savitzky-Golay (SG) smoothing, continuum removal (CR), first derivative (FD) and continuous wavelet transform (CWT), were used to eliminate noise and highlight spectral features.

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An accurate understanding of soil heavy metal (HM) pollution characteristics and source apportionment, and a recognition of the major factors influencing ecological and human health risks (HHRs) are essential for soil HM pollution control and remediation. In this study, 212 surface soils (0-20 cm) and 15 profile soils (0-100 cm) were collected from cropland soils around an e-waste dismantling site in Taizhou city, Zhejiang Province, China. Spatial analysis was used to evaluate the pollution characteristics of HMs (Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn, Cr and Ni).

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Hg pollution in soils surrounding the Wanshan mercury mine (WMM), once the largest Hg-producing center in China, has been confirmed, neglecting other potential toxic elements (PTEs). Better understanding of the sources and transport pathways of soil PTEs remains insufficient. To response these limitations, eight soil PTEs (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb and Zn) at two typical agricultural sites, namely AZ and WW that are located near and far from the WMM, respectively, were systemically investigated.

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Rapid assessment of heavy metal (HM) pollution in mining areas is urgently required for further remediation. Here, hyperspectral technology was used to predict HM contents of multi-media environments (tailings, surrounding soils and agricultural soils) in a mining area. The correlation between hyperspectral data and HMs was explored, then the prediction models were established by partial least squares regression (PLSR) and back propagation neural networks (BPNN).

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A multi-medium system, involving tailing area (tailings, surrounding soils and water) and downstream agricultural area (river water, sediments and farmland soils), was conceived to evaluate the pollution status of potential toxic elements (PTEs, including Fe, Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Sn, Pb, Cr and Cd) and environmental risks in a tin-polymetallic mine area southwest China. The results indicated that tailings exhibited representative enrichment and combination characteristics of Sn, Cu, Ni, Fe, As, Pb and Cr compared to surrounding soils. Acid mine drainage (AMD) from tailings and other mining-related sources greatly affected river water and farmland soils, resulting in soil acidification and accumulation of Sn, As, Cu and Pb in paddy soils.

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Intensive greenhouse vegetable production (GVP) has increased the pollution risk of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in soils. This study examined the accumulation, sources, and potential ecological risk of six PTEs (Cu, Zn, As, Ni, Pb, and Cr) in soil under two GVP (solar greenhouse (SG) and round-arched plastic greenhouse (RAPG)) systems by portable X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (pXRF) and conventional laboratory analysis. The results indicated that all PTE concentrations were lower than their corresponding thresholds in GVP soils, presenting a low potential ecological risk in both GVP soils according to risk indices (RI ≤ 40.

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Cadmium contamination in greenhouse vegetable fields greatly limited the sustainable production especially of leafy vegetables. Hydroxyapatite (HAP), as a common soil amendment, has been widely used in the remediation of Cd-contaminated soils, while its remediation efficiency greatly depends on its particle sizes. In this study, a rhizobag pot experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of HAP (<60 nm, <12 μm and <80 μm) on bioavailability of Cd to celery grown in acidic and slightly Cd-contaminated greenhouse soil.

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