Abstract
Aggregation of environmental monitoring data into indices is a common procedure when the objective of the assessment is the evaluation of some environmental criterion for large areas, usually with planning purposes. Two types of aggregation functions are commonly used in the construction of indices: the weighted sum and the constant elasticity of substitution. Several criteria have been proposed for the selection of aggregation functions, namely, (i) ambiguity, which happens when all indicators indicate non-contamination, but the index fails to reflect this observation; (ii) eclipsing, i.e., the index fails to reflect contamination indicated by one of the variables; (iii) rigidity occurs when the introduction of more variables result in increased failure in the classification given by the index, as indicated by a decrease of the index. The first two criteria are easily checked, but the latter is more difficult to evaluate. A method to assess rigidity is here proposed and applied. Two other criteria are also proposed: sensitivity and accuracy. The present study compares and discusses the use of pollution indices for the classification of soils as to heavy metal pollution, with both empirical and real-world data. In the end, some criteria for index selection are indicated, along with their ranking for different practical circumstances. The Nemerow pollution index and the ecological risk index complied with all the fundamental criteria making them good general-use indices.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ainsworth, C. C., Pilon, J. L., Gassman, P. L., & Sluys, W. G. V. D. (1994). Cobalt, cadmium, and lead sorption to hydrous iron oxide: residence time effect. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 58, 1615–1623.
Appelo, C. A. J., & Postma, D. (1999). Geochemistry, groundwater and pollution. Rotherdam, Netherlands: Balkema.
Barrow, N. J. (1998). Effects of time and temperature on the sorption of cadmium, zinc, cobalt, and nickel by a soil. Australian Journal of Soil Research, 36(6), 941–950.
Cabrera, F., Clemente, L., Díaz Barrientos, E., López, R., & Murillo, J. M. (1999). Heavy metal pollution of soils affected by the Guadiamar toxic flood. The Science of the Total Environment, 242(1–3), 117–29.
CCME. (2007). Canadian soil quality guidelines for the protection of environmental and human health: Summary tables. Updated September, 2007. In Canadian environmental quality guidelines, 1999. Winnipeg, Canada: Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment.
CESP. (1990). Backgrounds of Soil Environment in China. Beijing, RPC: Environment Science Press. Chinese National Environmental Monitoring Center.
Chen, T.-B., Zheng, Y.-M., Lei, M., Huang, Z.-C., Wu, H.-T., Chen, H., et al. (2005). Assessment of heavy metal pollution in surface soils of urban parks in Beijing, China. Chemosphere, 60(4), 542–51.
Cunha, M. C., & Nunes, L. M. (2011). Groundwater systems: characterization, management and monitoring. Southampton, UK: WIT Press.
Davis, C. B., & McNichols, R. J. (1994). Ground water monitoring statistics update, II, Nonparametric prediction limits. Ground Water Monitoring and Remediation, 14(4), 159–175.
Dousset, S., Morel, J., Jacobson, A., & Bitton, G. (2001). Copper binding capacity of root exudates of cultivated plants and associated weeds. Biology and Fertility of Soils, 34(4), 230–234.
Hakanson, L. (1980). An ecological risk index for aquatic pollution control: a sedimentological approach. Water Research, 14, 975–1001.
Hamby, D. M. (1994). A review of techniques for parameter sensitivity analysis of environmental model. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 32(2), 135–154.
Hu, Y., Liu, X., Bai, J., Shih, K., Zeng, E. Y., & Cheng, H. (2013). Assessing heavy metal pollution in the surface soils of a region that had undergone three decades of intense industrialization and urbanization. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 20(9), 6150–6159.
Inhaber, H. (1974). A set of suggested air quality indices for Canada. Atmospheric Environment, 9(3), 353–364.
Kalavrouziotis, I. K., Koukoulakis, P. H., Ntzala, G., & Papadopoulos, A. H. (2012). Proposed indices for assessing soil pollution under the application of sludge. Water, Air, & Soil Pollution, 223(8), 5189–5196.
Kumar, D., & Alappat, B. J. (2004). Selection of the appropriate aggregation function for calculating leachate pollution index. practice periodical of hazardous. Toxic, and Radioactive Waste Management, 8(4), 253–264.
Lee, C. S. L., Li, X., Shi, W., Cheung, S. C. N., & Thornton, I. (2006). Metal contamination in urban, suburban, and country park soils of Hong Kong: a study based on GIS and multivariate statistics. Science of the Total Environment, 356(1–3), 45–61.
Martínez, C. E., & Motto, H. L. (2000). Solubility of lead, zinc and copper added to mineral soils. Environmental Pollution, 107(1), 153–158.
MEPC. (1995). GB15618, Soil Environmental Quality Standards in China. Beijing, RPC: Ministry of Environmental Protection of China.
Muller, G. (1969). Index of geoaccumulation in sediments of the Rhine River. Geology Journal, 2, 109–118.
Nemerow, N. L. (1985). Stream, Lake, Estuary, and Ocean Pollution. New York, U.S.A: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company.
NRC (2003). Bioavailability of contaminants in soils and sediments. processes, tools, and applications. New York, U.S.A: Committee on Bioavailability of Contaminants in Soils and Sediments. National Research Council.
Nunes, L. M., Cunha, M. C., & Ribeiro, L. (2004a). Groundwater monitoring networks optimization with redundancy reduction. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management - ASCE, 130(1), 33–43.
Nunes, L. M., Paralta, E., Cunha, M. C. C., & Ribeiro, L. (2004b). Groundwater nitrate monitoring network optimization with missing data. Water Resources Research, 40(2), 1–18.
OECD. (2002). Aggregated environmental indices (Review of aggregation methodologies in use. Volume 33). France: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Paris.
Ott, W. R. (1978). Environmental Indices —Theory and Practice. Michigan, USA: Ann Arbor Science.
Rai, D., & Zachara, J. M. (1984). Volume 1: a critical review. California, U.S.A.: Electric Power Research Institute. Chemical Attenuation Rates, Coefficients, and Constants in Leachate Migration.
RIVM. (2009). Soil Remediation Circular 2009. Bilthoven, The Netherlands: Rijksinstituut Voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu.
Schmitt, H. W., & Sticher, H. (1991). Heavy metal compounds in the soil. In E. Merian (Ed.), Metals and their compounds in the environment—Occurrence, analysis and biological relevance (pp. 311–331). New York, U.S.A.: VCH.
Shomar, B., Kalavrouziotis, I. K., Koukoulakis, P. H., & Yahya, A. (2013). Soil pollution indices under the effect of sludge. Water, Air, Soil Pollution, 224, 1436–1447.
Singh, R. P., Nath, S., Prasad, S. C., & Nema, A. K. (2008). Selection of Suitable aggregation function for estimation of aggregate pollution index for river Ganges in India. Journal of Environmental Engineering – ASCE, 134(8), 689–702.
Smolders, E., Oorts, K., Van Sprang, P., Schoeters, I., Janssen, C. R., McGrath, S. P., & McLaughlin, M. J. (2009). Toxicity of trace metals in soil as affected by soil type and aging after contamination: using calibrated bioavailability models to set ecological soil standards. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry / SETAC, 28(8), 1633–42.
Sparks, D. L. (1989). Kinetics of soil chemical processes (p. 210). New York, U.S.A.: Academic.
Sun, Y., Zhou, Q., Xie, X., & Liu, R. (2010). Spatial, sources and risk assessment of heavy metal contamination of urban soils in typical regions of Shenyang, China. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 174(1–3), 455–62.
Swamee, P. K., & Tyagi, A. (1999). Formation of an air pollution index. Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association, 49, 88–91.
Swamee, P., & Tyagi, A. (2007). Improved method for aggregation of water quality subindices. Journal of Environmental Engineering – ASCE, 133(2), 220–225.
Tomlinson, D. L., Wilson, J. G., & Harris, C. R., J. D. W. (1980). Problems in the assessments of heavy-metal levels in estuaries and formation of a pollution index. Helgol Meeresunters, 33, 566–575.
USEPA. (2009). Statistical analysis of groundwater monitoring data at RCRA facilities—Unified Guidance. Washington, D. C., U.S.A.: United States Environment Agency.
Vose, D. (2008). Risk analysis. A quantitative guide. (3rd ed., p. 729). Chichester, England: John Wiley & Sons.
Wei, B., & Yang, L. (2010). A review of heavy metal contaminations in urban soils, urban road dusts and agricultural soils from China. Microchemical Journal, 94(2), 99–107.
Zoller, W. H., Gladney, E. S., & Duce, R. A. (1974). atmospheric concentrations and sources of trace metals at the South Pole. Science, 183(4121), 198–200.
Acknowledgments
This research was partially financed by the National High-Tech R&D Program of China (863 Program 2013AA06A211), the International Science & Technology Cooperation Program of China (2011DFB91710), and by EU FP7 People International Research Staff Exchange Scheme (IRSES) program, which allowed the mission of the corresponding author to the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cai, C., Xiong, B., Zhang, Y. et al. Critical Comparison of Soil Pollution Indices for Assessing Contamination with Toxic Metals. Water Air Soil Pollut 226, 352 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-015-2620-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-015-2620-2