AccScience Publishing / AJWEP / Volume 2 / Issue 1 / DOI: 10.3233/AJW-2005-2_1_11
RESEARCH ARTICLE

A Statistical Interpretation for the Source Identification of Trace Elements in Surface Soils of Danang-Hoian Area, Vietnam

Hoang Thi Thanh Thuy1* Heinz Jürgen Tobschall2 Pham Van An3
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1 Institute for Environment and Resources (IER), Vietnam National University of Hochiminh City, 142 To Hien Thanh, Q. 10, Hochiminh City
2 University of Erlangen-Nuernberg, Institute of Geology and Mineralogy Schlossgarten 5, D91054 Erlangen, Germany
3 University of Mining and Geology, Dong Ngac, Tu Liem, Hanoi, Vietnam
AJWEP 2005, 2(1), 71–75; https://doi.org/10.3233/AJW-2005-2_1_11
Submitted: 23 November 2004 | Accepted: 20 December 2004 | Published: 1 January 2005
© 2005 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution -Noncommercial 4.0 International License (CC-by the license) ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ )
Abstract

35 surface soil samples (0-25 cm) were collected from the Danang-Hoian area, one of the rapidly developing urban areas in Vietnam, in order to study the degree of anthropogenic pollution. The samples were analyzed for their major and trace metals (Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn, Al, Fe and Mn), organic carbon and soil pH. Factor analysis was applied to classify the sources of trace elements and distinguish the natural background and anthropogenic anomalies. Three-factor model accounted for 74.3% of the total data variance. The first component explains the pedogenic processes which mainly controls the elements Co, Cr, Ni, Al, Fe and Mn. The second component contains Cu and Zn which mainly relates to the agricultural activities and the industrial as well as domestic waste disposal. The third component explains the correlation among Cd, Pb, TOC and pH which are mainly associated with domestic and industrial pollutants.

Keywords
soils
trace elements
factor analysis
Danang-Hoian (Vietnam)
Conflict of interest
The authors declare they have no competing interests.
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Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution, Electronic ISSN: 1875-8568 Print ISSN: 0972-9860, Published by AccScience Publishing