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. 2025 Mar 21;15(11):8795-8808.
doi: 10.1039/d4ra07920e. eCollection 2025 Mar 17.

Current state of the heavy metal pollution, microbial diversity, and bioremediation experiments around the Qixia Mountain lead-zinc mine in Nanjing, China

Xiaofang Li  1   2 , Xiaochi An  2 , Kairui Jiao  2 , Haoqin Pan  1 , Bin Lian  2
Affiliations

Current state of the heavy metal pollution, microbial diversity, and bioremediation experiments around the Qixia Mountain lead-zinc mine in Nanjing, China

Xiaofang Li et al. RSC Adv. .

Abstract

The extraction and processing of ores from lead-zinc mines, coupled with the disposal of tailings, often result in severe environmental contamination that poses significant ecological and public health risks, demanding urgent attention and action. In this study, field investigations and analyses were performed to evaluate the state of heavy metal pollution and microbial diversity in the soil around Qixia Mountain lead-zinc mine in Nanjing, China. The effect of plant-/microorganism-induced mineralization on the remediation of the contaminated soil was studied via pot experiments. Results indicated serious soil pollution around the mine, and dominant bacterial species (e.g. Sphingomonas) in different soil environments exhibited high resistance to heavy metals. Pot experiments showed that amaranth-/Bacillus velezensis-induced mineralization can significantly reduce the heavy metal pollution levels (Nemerow pollution index decreased from 4.5 to about 1.0) in soil. This study reveals the profound impacts of mining activities on soil ecology and human health, providing a theoretical basis for the prevention and control of soil pollution in farmlands surrounding lead-zinc mines.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Location of the sampling points selected in the Qixia Mountain lead–zinc mining area: (a) geographical location of Nanjing in Jiangsu Province. (b) Geographical location of the Qixia Mountain lead–zinc mine. (c) Distribution of the sampling points in the mining area. (d) Photographs of the vegetation covering the land in the different sampling regions.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2. Distribution of the bacterial and fungal β diversities in the samples: (a) PCoA analysis of the bacteria and (b) NMDS analysis of the fungi.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3. Phylum level distribution of the bacteria and fungi in the microbial communities.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4. Distribution of different bacterial flora in the soil samples.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5. Distribution of different fungal communities in the soil samples.
Fig. 6
Fig. 6. Analysis of the association between environmental factors and bacterial communities.
Fig. 7
Fig. 7. Physical and chemical properties of the soils after the completion of pot experiments: (a) pH, (b) EC, (c) carbonate content, and (d) Ca2+ content.
Fig. 8
Fig. 8. Present state of the heavy metal pollution near the Qixia Mountain lead–zinc mine, and the proposed method that could be used to remediate the soil.
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