Environ Earth Sci (2011) 64:1921–1929
DOI 10.1007/s12665-011-1005-0
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Spatial distribution, source identification and affecting
factors of heavy metals contamination in urban–suburban
soils of Lishui city, China
Hongyan Wang • Shenggao Lu
Received: 2 May 2010 / Accepted: 8 March 2011 / Published online: 24 March 2011
Ó Springer-Verlag 2011
Abstract An investigation on spatial distribution, possible
pollution sources, and affecting factors of heavy metals in
the urban–suburban soils of Lishui city (China) was con-
ducted using geographic information system (GIS) tech-
nique and multivariate statistics. The results indicated that
the topsoils in urban and suburban areas were enriched with
metals, such as Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn. Spatial distribution maps
of heavy metal contents, based on geostatistical analysis and
GIS mapping, indicated that Cd, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn
had similar patterns of spatial distribution. Their hot-spot
areas were mainly concentrated in the densely populated old
urban area of the city. Multivariate statistical analysis
(correlation analysis, principal component analysis, and
clustering analysis) showed distinctly different associations
among the studied metals, suggesting that Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb,
Cd, and Zn had anthropogenic sources, whereas Co and V
were associated with parent materials and therefore had
natural sources. The Cd, Cr, Ni, Pb, and Zn contents were
positively correlated with soil organic matter, pH, and sand
content (p \ 0.01). It is concluded that GIS and multivariate
statistical methods can be used to identify hot-spot areas and
potential sources of heavy metals, and assess soil environ-
ment quality in urban–suburban areas.
Keywords Heavy metals  Geostatistics 
Multivariate statistical analysis  Urban soils  GIS
H. Wang  S. Lu (&)
College of Environmental and Resource Sciences,
Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Subtropical Soil
and Plant Nutrition, Key Laboratory of Environment
Remediation and Ecological Health, Ministry of Education,
Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310029, China
e-mail: lusg@zju.edu.cn
Introduction
Accelerated industrialization and urbanization lead to an
increased pollution of soil and water body and a growing
risk for heavy metal uptake by human. Many studies
indicated that industrialization and urbanization had caused
the elevated contamination of heavy metals in urban and
suburban soils (Afshin et al. 2009; Imperato et al. 2003;
Lee et al. 2006; Li et al. 2001, 2004; Möller et al. 2005; Shi
et al. 2008; Sun et al. 2010; Yang et al. 2009). The elevated
heavy metals in the urban topsoils can then pose a risk to
human health as a result of entering the food chain through
direct ingestion of dust or the ingestion of plants. There-
fore, research into the distribution of heavy metals in urban
soils and their likely effects on the human health is gaining
more attention in the recent years. Several studies have
reported the anthropogenic impact associated with rapid
development of industrial and urban regions and suggested
vehicle emissions, industrial waste, the atmospheric depo-
sition of dust and aerosol, and other uncontrolled factory
emissions as possible sources of the heavy metal pollution
(Afshin et al. 2009; Imperato et al. 2003; Lee et al. 2006;
Li et al. 2001, 2004; Möller et al. 2005; Shi et al. 2008; Sun
et al. 2010; Yang et al. 2009).
The study of the spatial distribution and source identi-
fication of heavy metals in urban soils is very important in
order to identify the hot-spot areas of pollution and assess
the potential sources of pollutants (Afshin et al. 2009; Carr
et al. 2008; Imperato et al. 2003; Lee et al. 2006; Li et al.
2004; Li and Feng 2010; Madrid et al. 2002; Shi et al.
2008; Zhang 2006). Usually, the identification of pollutant
sources is conducted with the aid of multivariate statistical
analyses, such as correlation analysis, principal component
analysis (PCA), and cluster analysis (CA). Some authors
have used multivariate statistical methods to identify the
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factors of lithogenic and anthropogenic origin responsible
for the heavy metal pollution of urban soils (Facchinelli
et al. 2001; Franco-Urı́a et al. 2009; Li et al. 2009; Lu et al.
2010; Martin et al. 2006; Ozan et al. 2008; Sollitto et al.
2010; Zheng et al. 2008). Furthermore, the geostatistical
analysis and GIS-based spatial mapping have been used to
study spatial distribution patterns and possible hot spots of
elevated concentrations of heavy metal contamination in an
urban environment (Carr et al. 2008; Facchinelli et al.
2001; Lee et al. 2006; Li et al. 2004; Zhang 2006). Pol-
lution maps, based on GIS technique, may also provide
information on pollution sources of heavy metals and the
relative contribution of different sources.
Most of the studies on heavy metals’ contamination in
urban soils have usually been carried out in large cities
with dense traffic and population or in industrial cities with
a high degree of industrialization in developed countries;
but limited data is available on accumulation of heavy
metals in the middle and small cities of a rapidly devel-
oping region. There is also no information concerning the
spatial distribution pattern of heavy metals in the course of
rapid urbanization. The selected region is experiencing a
rapid industrialization and urbanization in the last 10 years.
The rapid growth of industrial, population, and vehicles
exerts a heavy pressure on its urban environment quality.
Therefore, the knowledge on impact of rapid urbanization
on urban pollution is an important issue for city planning
and monitoring of urban environment quality. The research
results may be helpful for the city government in control-
ling and alleviating heavy metal contamination in the
course of urban sprawl.
The aims of the present study are to: (1) determine the
concentrations of heavy metals in the urban and suburban
regions of a rapidly growing city in China; (2) map the
spatial distribution of heavy metals through geostatistical
analysis and GIS for the purpose of identifying their spatial
patterns and possible hot spots of elevated concentrations
of heavy metals; and (3) identify the possible pollution
sources of heavy metals in the soils using correlation
analysis, principal component analysis (PCA), and cluster
analysis (CA).
Materials and methods
Study area and soil sampling
The studied area, Lishui city (the geographical position
being N28°25–280 and E119°530 –580 ) is located in south-
western Zhejiang Province, eastern China (Fig. 1). Rapid
urban expansion and industrial development in the city
began in the 1990s. It is about 31 km2 in area with an urban
population of more than 200,000 in 2007. The studied area
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Environ Earth Sci (2011) 64:1921–1929
comprises two typical regions: the old urban area with a
long historic city center district with high urban activities
and a new suburban area with newly established industrial
parks and residential areas that commenced in the early
2000s.
A total of 126 topsoil samples were collected from the
old urban and suburban areas of the city. The sampling
sites covered all high density, inhabited, and commercial
centers of the old urban area, as well as new developing
industrial parks and un-urbanized suburban areas around
the old urban area, representing different levels of pollution
exposure. Locations of sampling sites are given in Fig. 1.
At each sampling site, five or six subsamples of topsoils
(0–20 cm) were taken with a stainless steel spade and
mixed thoroughly to obtain a composite sample. Samples
were air-dried and then sieved through a 2.0-mm sieve to
remove stones, coarse materials, and other debris. Portions
of the soil samples (about 100 g) were further ground to
pass through a 100-mesh nylon sieve for heavy metals’
analysis. The physical and chemical properties of the
studied soils are presented in Table 1.
Chemical analysis
Soil physical and chemical properties were determined
according to standard analysis procedure (Bao 2000). Soil
pH was determined in distilled water in a soil-liquid ratio
of 1:2.5. The hydrometer method determined the distribu-
tion of soil particle sizes. The dichromate oxidation method
determined soil organic matter. Total nitrogen (TN) was
measured with a Rapid N Cube Nitrogen Analyzer. Total P
was determined colorimetrically as ammonium molybdate–
ascorbic acid, following H2SO4–HClO4 digestion. Con-
centrations of heavy metals (Cr, Mn, V, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As,
Cd, and Pb) were analyzed using a strong acid digestion
Fig. 1 Sketch map of the studied area and sampling sites
Environ Earth Sci (2011) 64:1921–1929 1923

Table 1 Descriptive statistics of physical and chemical properties in Results and discussion
the urban and suburban soils of Lishui city
Soil property Units Range Mean SD Heavy metal concentrations

Sand (2–0.02 mm) % 12.2–82.2 56.3 12.3 The descriptive statistics of heavy metal contents in the
Silt (0.02–0.002 mm) % 4.2–45.4 28.1 8.8 soils are summarized in Table 2. The soil background
Clay (\0.002 mm) % 1.8–53.4 15.6 6.6 values in the studied areas (Soil Survey Office of Zhejiang
pH – 3.0–9.7 6.0 1.4 Province 1994) are used as the reference values. The mean
Organic matter g/kg 1.2–110.7 30.0 15.2 contents of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn in soils were 0.53, 35.75,
Total N g/kg 0.6–5.3 2.1 0.7 63.15 and 192.38 mg/kg, respectively, which are much
Total P mg/kg 19.6–1663.7 710.1 296.2 higher than the background values, indicating possible
SD standard deviation contamination that is probably caused by an anthropogenic
source. The enrichment of Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn in soils was
method (Bao 2000) and inductively coupled plasma-mass considered to be the result of a gradual accumulation from
spectrometry (ICP-MS). The quality of the analysis was various pollution sources (especially human activities and
controlled according to standard procedure (Bao 2000). traffic) over time. When compared with the heavy metal
concentrations in the soils of other Chinese cities (Li et al.
Multivariate statistical analysis and GIS spatial 2004; Lu et al. 2004, 2007; Shi et al. 2008; Sollitto et al.
mapping 2010; Soil Survey Office of Zhejiang Province 1994; Sun
et al. 2010), the mean values of Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn in the
The most common multivariate statistical methods, soils studied are lower than those of the soils in the big
including correlation analysis, principal component analy- cities and industrial regions as reported earlier. Therefore,
sis (PCA), and cluster analysis (CA) were used here to the relatively lower concentrations of heavy metals in the
evaluate the analytical data. The log or Box-cox transfor- soils studied could be the result of less accumulation time
mation of all data was made to ensure the normal distri- and rate.
bution of heavy metal concentrations. Statistical analyses The skewness values of heavy metal contents showed
were performed using SPSS for Windows 16.0 software larger variability of heavy metal contents, with positively
(SPSS Inc., Chicago, USA). Geostatistical analysis and skewed frequency distribution. This is common for heavy
GIS mapping techniques were employed to produce spatial metals because the presence of a point source contamina-
distribution maps for the ten studied metals, and the soft- tion may cause a significant increase of metal contents. The
ware used for this purpose was ArcGIS 9.2 (ESRI Co, coefficient of variation (CV) values of ten heavy metals in
Redlands, USA) and GS? version 3.1 for Windows the soils, ranged from 35 to 72%, indicated they had
(Gamma Design Software, Plainwell, MI, USA). The Kri- moderate variations. The CV value (72%) of Cd was the
ging interpolation was used for the interpolation of geo- highest of the ten heavy metals, suggesting that Cd had the
graphical data. Details of geostatistics analysis can be greatest variation among the studied metals and thus would
found in Shi and Li (2006). have the highest possibility of being influenced by the

Table 2 Descriptive statistical summary of heavy metal concentrations in the urban and suburban soils of Lishui city (mg/kg)
Element Range Mean Median SD Skewness Kurtosis CV (%) Background
value

Cr 9.41–105.10 34.66 32.36 15.79 2.08 6.78 45.7 36.73

Mn 90.53–950.83 345.80 341.66 157.43 0.94 1.38 45.5 nd
V 17.95–177.26 42.55 39.08 17.69 3.94 26.28 41.6 nd
Co 2.17–34.00 6.35 5.99 3.35 5.02 37.74 52.7 nd
Ni 3.70–50.21 14.35 12.74 7.26 2.16 6.44 50.6 nd
Cu 4.72–140.83 35.75 30.92 21.37 2.24 6.83 59.7 17.76
Zn 60.04–873.53 192.38 157.00 133.60 2.89 10.79 69.4 69.00
As 0.93–36.45 8.81 7.60 5.31 2.51 9.14 60.3 9.33
Cd 0.05–1.90 0.53 0.34 0.52 2.41 7.86 72.0 0.167
Pb 29.18–166.93 63.15 58.73 21.96 1.89 5.46 34.8 25.61
CV coefficient of variation, nd no data is available

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extrinsic factors such as human activities, automobile
exhausts, and deposition of aerosols.
Spatial distribution of heavy metal concentrations
Geostatistics was applied in investigating and mapping soil
heavy metals (Shi and Li 2006). Semivariogram calculation
was conducted and experimental semivariogram of soil
heavy metal contents could be fitted with a spherical model
(Mn, Cu, Zn, Cd, and Zn), exponential model (Cr, V, Ni),
and linear model (As). Semivariogram models and
parameters, including nugget value (C0), sill (C0 ? C),
range (R) and coefficients of determination (R2), are shown
in Table 3. The values of R2 showed that the semivario-
gram models gave good descriptions of spatial structure of
soil heavy metals. The ratio of nugget to sill (RNS) can be
used to express the extent of spatial autocorrelations of soil
heavy metal contents. A low RNS (\25%) indicates the
strong spatial autocorrelations of soil heavy metal contents.
If RNS is between 25 and 75%, the variable has moderate
spatial dependence (Shi and Li 2006). Usually, strong
spatial dependence of soil properties can be contributed to
intrinsic factors (soil formation factors), and weak spatial
dependence can be contributed to extrinsic factors. The
RNS of ten heavy metals varied from 7 to 64%. The RNS
of Cu, Zn, As, and Pb, ranged from 35 to 50%, have
moderate spatial dependence, indicating that anthropogenic
factors changed their spatial correlation. The RNS of Co,
V, and Mn (\15%) showed that these metals have stronger
spatial dependence due to the effects of natural factors such
as parent materials and topography.
Figure 2 illustrates the spatial distribution of heavy met-
als concentrations in the soils. The maps showed that Cd, Cr,
Ni, Pb and Zn have some similar features. The spatial dis-
tribution of these metals were characterized by higher con-
centrations of heavy metals in heavily populated old urban of
the city and lower at suburban area with low population
density. One ‘hot spot’ was identified where concentrations
of most of the anthropogenic metals show significantly
increased concentrations compared to the rest of the soils
studied. The spatial distribution patterns of Co and V were
distinctly different from the Cd, Cr, Ni, Pb, and Zn. Two
relatively large concentrations or hot spots of Co and V were
found. One is in the southeastern part of the city, and the
other is in the southwestern part of the city, which may be
attributed to the input from natural sources. As concentra-
tions were fairly uniformly distributed, and different rock
types or a mixed source can explain larger variations within
the studied area. Cu displays a different spatial distribution
pattern from the other anthropogenic metals and has an
especially high concentration in the northern edge part of the
city and old urban area, probably implying the existence of a
different polluting source. Field surveys indicated that the
high Cu concentration in the northern part of the city where a
grape plantation garden was located is most likely attributed
to the application of manure and Cu-containing chemicals. It
is concluded that the spatial variability of soil heavy metals is
a useful visual aid to assess the possible sources of heavy
metals and environmental quality evaluation.
Inter-element relationships
Inter-element relations can provide information on heavy
metal sources and pathways (Imperato et al. 2003). The
correlation coefficient matrixes between heavy metals are
presented in Table 4. The Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn were sig-
nificantly correlated with each other (p \ 0.01), indicating
that they may share a common origin. In contrast, V con-
tent was correlated with only Co and Ni (p \ 0.01). Cr and
Ni were significantly correlated with all heavy metals
(p \ 0.01) except for As. Element As did not show strong
correlation with other heavy metals, indicating that its
distribution was not controlled by same factor. These
results indicated that there existed some original relation-
ship between heavy metals, and suggested several different
possible sources of heavy metals.

Table 3 Semivariogram
Model Nugget Sill C0 ? C Ratio of nugget Range R2
models and fitted parameters for
value C0 to sill (%)C0/(C0 ? C) (km)
heavy metal concentrations in
the urban and suburban soils Cr Exponential 0.329 1.633 20.1 15.2 0.942
Mn Spherical 0.183 1.258 14.5 4.88 0.889
V Exponential 0.154 1.865 8.3 16.32 0.942
Co Exponential 0.163 2.295 7.1 22.77 0.951
Ni Exponential 0.276 1.315 21.0 8.52 0.813
Cu Spherical 0.561 1.535 36.5 13.86 0.792
Zn Spherical 0.408 1.147 35.6 4.47 0.662
As Linear 0.799 1.254 63.7 9.476 0.578
Cd Spherical 0.281 1.312 20.4 6.23 0.857
Pb Spherical 0.616 1.233 50.0 7.19 0.949

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Fig. 2 Spatial distribution

maps of heavy metal
concentrations in the soils

Principal component analysis (Franco-Urı́a et al. 2009; Lee et al. 2006; Li et al. 2009;
Zhang 2006). The results of PCA for the heavy metal
Principal component analysis (PCA) is widely applied to contents in the soils are presented in Tables 5 and 6. All the
assist in the identification of possible sources of pollutants elements were well represented by the first three principal

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Table 4 Correlation coefficient matrix of heavy metals concentrations in the studied soils
Cr Mn V Co Ni Cu Zn As Cd Pb

Cr 1
Mn 0.280** 1
V 0.401** 0.113 1
Co 0.552** 0.505** 0.733** 1
Ni 0.855** 0.313** 0.461** 0.609** 1
Cu 0.483** 0.220* 0.089 0.155 0.509** 1
Zn 0.546** 0.490** 0.082 0.306** 0.486** 0.488** 1
As 0.214* -0.139 0.159 0.073 0.192* 0.144 0.011 1
Cd 0.628** 0.485** 0.133 0.356** 0.604** 0.562** 0.703** 0.186* 1
Pb 0.504** 0.284** 0.060 0.257** 0.419** 0.444** 0.514** 0.036 0.548** 1
* Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level
** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level

components (PC) with an eigenvalue higher than 1, which
accounts for over 73% of the total variance. The 43.6% of
total variance was controlled by PC1, showing higher
loading for Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb, reflecting the
anthropogenic contamination in the urban soils. Meanwhile
there were significant positive correlations between their
levels in urban soils (Table 2), which imply that these
heavy metals in the soils may originate from similar pol-
lution sources. PC2 (18.0% of total variance) accounts for
high contribution of V and Co, reflecting the input of
parent materials. Combined with the fact that V and Co has
highly significant correlation (Table 4), PCA analysis
suggested that the two metals are probably from similar
sources. PC3 with a variance loading of 11.8% was dom-
inated by the loading As.
In the case of Cu, this metal displayed a combined
relationship with PC1 and PC3, suggesting that this metal
has a combined origin. Taking into the spatial distribution
of metal (Fig. 2), the enrichment of Cu in the suburban
soils may be related with the application of commercial
fertilizers, manure, and Cu-contained agrochemicals. As
Table 5 Eigenvalue and contribution principal component analysis
Component 1 2 3 4
Total 4.4 1.8 1.2 0.7
% of variance 43.6 18.0 11.8 7.1
Cumulative (%) 43.6 61.6 73.4 80.5
showed a greater value in the third component (PC3), and
the mean level of As in soils was comparable to the
background value (Table 2). It could be concluded that the
parent materials of soils and agricultural activities con-
trolled As concentration. Previous studies indicated that the
anthropogenic sources of heavy metals could be generally
classified into three categories: ‘urban elements’, ‘natural
elements’ and elements of a mix origin (Afshin et al. 2009;
Facchinelli et al. 2001; Imperato et al. 2003). Similar
studies have revealed that metal contamination in urban
soils is significantly related with industrial production,
vehicle exhaust, waste disposal, fossil fuel combustion as
well as human activities. Because there is not larger
industry in the studied city, traffic emissions and other
human activities may be a common source governing the
distribution of Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn in soils.
Cluster analysis
The CA results for the heavy metal contents in the studied
soils are illustrated in Fig. 3. In general, the results of CA
agree very well with those of PCA analysis. Three distinct
clusters are observed from the dendrograms for the metals
in soils. Cluster I contained Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn, All these
5 6 7 elements show high mean concentrations, compared with
0.5 0.5 0.4
the background values in the studied area. This group of
elements has had previously been interpreted as anthro-
5.5 5.1 3.6
pogenic metals. Cluster II consisted of Cr and Ni. It was
86.0 91.1 94.7
observed, however, that Cluster I and II join together at a

Table 6 Matrix of the principal component analysis loadings of heavy metals in the urban and suburban soils
Component Cr Mn V Co Ni Cu Zn As Cd Pb

PC1 0.859 0.569 0.426 0.665 0.84 0.625 0.743 0.206 0.788 0.605
PC2 0.133 -0.106 0.802 0.617 0.259 -0.339 -0.386 0.251 -0.387 -0.449
PC3 0.152 -0.611 -0.018 -0.286 0.088 0.308 -0.122 0.76 0.055 0.065

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Environ Earth Sci (2011) 64:1921–1929 1927

processes of heavy metals in soils (Franco-Urı́a et al. 2009;

Fig. 3 Dendrogram derived from the cluster analysis of heavy metal
concentrations in the studied soils
relatively higher level, implying perhaps common source.
Cluster III contained V, Co, Mn, and As. However, As
element was obviously separated from the V, Co, and Mn
elements in CA.
Based on PCA and CA results, three main sources can
be identified: (1) Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn, comprised the
first factor extracted by PCA, are mainly derived from
human activities and traffic sources in the course of
urbanization; (2) Co, V, Mn, and As, obviously separated
from the other elements in CA, are mainly originate from
the soil parent materials; (3) Cu and As, separated from the
other metals in same cluster, has an mixed source. The
results suggested again that Cr, Ni, Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn
were mainly controlled by anthropogenic sources, while V,
Co, Mn and As had natural sources. Overall, clustering
analysis gave similar results, enabling the identification of
three different sources of heavy metals in the soils.
Relationships with soil properties
It was well known that a number of physical and chemical
properties of soils affected mobilization–immobilization
Boruvka et al. 2005; Imperato et al. 2003). The basic
physical and chemical properties of soils were shown in
Table 1. Soil pH ranged from strong acidity (3.0) to strong
alkalinity (9.7). Mean organic matter was 30.0 g/kg and
varied between 1.2 and 110.7 g/kg. The mean clay content
was 15.6% and varied between 1.8 and 45.4% and the
mean sand was 56.3% and varied between 12.2 and 82.2%.
The mean total N and P are 2.1 and 710.1 g/kg,
respectively.
A Pearson’s correlation analysis had been applied to
analyze the relationships between these soil parameters and
the heavy metal contents in the studied soils. The results
were shown in Table 7. The results indicated that pH had
highly significant positive correlation with the contents of
Cr, Mn, V, Co, Ni, Zn, Cd, and Pb; and no significant
correlation with Cu. Organic matter was correlated posi-
tively (p \ 0.01) with Cr, Ni, Cu, Cd, Zn, and Pb. Clay was
negatively correlated with contents of Cr, Mn, Ni, Zn, Cd,
and Zn. Sand was positively correlated with Cr, Mn, Ni,
Zn, Cd, and Pb (p \ 0.01). The correlation analysis
between metals and soil properties indicated that heavy
metals, which were mostly due to anthropogenic sources
(Cr, Ni, Zn, Cd, and Pb) had significant correlation with
soil pH, organic matter, and sand contents. These anthro-
pogenic metals were negatively correlated with clay con-
tent in the soils. These results were in agreement with the
previous findings by Lu et al. (2004) who found that
anthropogenic heavy metals were significantly positively
corrected with sand content, and negatively with clay
content in the urban soils of Nanjing.
On the contrary, heavy metals (Co and V) came from
natural sources and did not present any correlation with
sand content, organic matter, and total P contents. No
significant correlation between As content and soil prop-
erties was also observed for the studied soils. Specifically,

Table 7 Correlation coefficients matrix between heavy metal concentrations and soil properties in the studied soils
Sand Silt Clay pH OM TN TP

Cr 0.250** -0.213** -0.222** 0.383** 0.403** 0.250** 0.115

Mn 0.278** -0.178* -0.366** 0.522** -0.059 -0.236** -0.033
V -0.053 0.046 0.046 0.216** -0.063 -0.203* -0.008
Co 0.082 -0.028 -0.158* 0.341** -0.084 -0.241** 0.004
Ni 0.271** -0.170** -0.364** 0.369** 0.301** 0.152* 0.197*
Cu 0.119 -0.086 -0.136 0.057 0.551** 0.348** 0.123
Zn 0.483** -0.450** -0.349** 0.398** 0.522** 0.177* 0.081
As 0.037 -0.010 -0.077 0.160* -0.027 -0.132 -0.073
Cd 0.482** -0.436** -0.376** 0.481** 0.412** 0.061 0.038
Pb 0.21** -0.159** -0.227** 0.307** 0.517** 0.241* 0.061
* Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level
** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level

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organic matter and total N seem to play an important role
in Cu accumulation. This may indicated a common origin
of Cu and organic matter and nitrogen due to the applica-
tion of manure.
Conclusions
The urban and suburban soils collected from Lishui city
were analyzed for Cr, Mn, V, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Cd, and
Pb concentrations using ICP-MS. The contents of Cd, Cu,
Pb, and Zn in the studied soils were higher than their
background values, suggesting that human activities have
led to high accumulation of potentially toxic metals in
soils. The spatial distribution maps of heavy metal contents
were created based on geostatistics and GIS technique. The
similar pattern of spatial distribution was observed for Cd,
Cr, Ni, Pb, and Zn. Their hot-spot area was mainly asso-
ciated with old urban area with high-density population and
commercial activities. Co and V show similar spatial dis-
tribution, which suggest that the two metals may be derived
from the input of soil parent materials. The spatial distri-
bution of Cu was different from other metals, which sug-
gest that Cu was mainly attributed to a mixed source, such
as human activities, application of organic manure and
Cu-containing agrochemicals. It was concluded that spatial
distribution maps of heavy metals of urban and suburban
soils helped to identify the ‘hot spots’ area and source of
contamination.
The PCA results of ten heavy metals identified three
principal components, which controlled their variability in
urban and suburban soils. Cd, Cr, Ni, Cu, Pb, and Zn (PC1)
were mainly related to the anthropogenic source. PC2,
including V and Co, could be considered as a natural ori-
gin. The element of As, as a separate group, was probably
affected by both anthropogenic and natural origins. The
same results were obtained from cluster analysis. The
analyzed heavy metals were classified into three groups
according to their sources. The first group contains Cu, Ni,
Cd, Cr, Pb, and Zn, which had previously identified as the
anthropogenic metals according to PCA result. The second
group includes natural metals V, Co, and Mn. In correlation
analysis, anthropogenic metals (Cu, Ni, Cd, Cr, Pb, and Zn)
were significantly correlated, while natural metal (V) did
not correlate with other heavy metals. These results dem-
onstrated that multivariate statistical analyses were effec-
tive tools for understanding potentially toxic metal
contamination in the complex urban environment. Rela-
tionships between heavy metals and soil properties indi-
cated that soil pH, organic matter and sand contents were
the main factors controlling potential polluting metals in
urban and suburban soils.
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Environ Earth Sci (2011) 64:1921–1929
Acknowledgments This project was supported by the National Key
Technologies R&D Program of China (2008BADA7B06) and Science
and Technology Department of Zhejiang Province (2007C23057).
Opinions in the paper do not constitute an endorsement or approval by
the funding agencies and only reflect the personal research views of
the authors.
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