Open-pit coal-mining effects on rice paddy soil composition and metal bioavailability to Oryza sativa L. plants in Cam Pha, northeastern Vietnam.

This study quantified Cd, Pb, and Cu content, and the soil-plant transfer factors of these elements in rice paddies within Cam Pha, Quang Ninh province, northeastern Vietnam. The rice paddies are located at a distance of 2 km from the large Coc Sau open-pit coal mine. Electron microprobe analysis combined with backscattered electron imaging and energy-dispersive spectroscopy revealed a relatively high proportion of carbon particles rimmed by an iron sulfide mineral (probably pyrite) in the quartz-clay matrix of rice paddy soils at 20-30 cm depth.