Geochemical Evolution and Risk Assessment of Soil and Groundwater Influenced by a Decade-Old Coal Gangue Dump in North China

Geochemical Evolution and Risk Assessment of Soil and Groundwater Influenced by a Decade-Old Coal Gangue Dump in North China | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Geochemical Evolution and Risk Assessment of Soil and Groundwater Influenced by a Decade-Old Coal Gangue Dump in North China Xihui Liu, Zhenqi Hu, Jingwei Gao This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7831116/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This study conducts an environmental risk assessment of coal gangue dump that have been stored for decades in North China, focusing on their long-term impacts on soil and groundwater. Coal gangue, a byproduct of coal mining, contains toxic heavy metals, including As, Cd, Pb, and Hg, which leach into surrounding soil and water, posing serious ecological and human health risks. Soil samples from areas in direct contact with the gangue reveal significant contamination, particularly with Pb and Cd, which exceed natural background levels. Groundwater samples from wells near the gangue piles show elevated fluoride and sulfate concentrations, indicating leachate contamination. The study employs pollution assessment indices such as the Pollution Index (PI) and Risk Index (RI) to quantify the extent of contamination, with results showing high pollution and risk in areas directly affected by the coal gangue. The seasonal variation of water quality is also examined, revealing fluctuating pollution levels, especially in ammonia nitrogen, nitrate concentrations. These findings highlight the need for targeted remediation strategies to prevent further contamination and safeguard human health and local ecosystems. Biological sciences/Ecology Earth and environmental sciences/Ecology Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences Coal Gangue Heavy Metals Soil Contamination Groundwater Pollution Environmental Risk Assessment Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7831116","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":534280667,"identity":"bbb52dfb-e375-4729-b06e-ed19eaeca7fe","order_by":0,"name":"Xihui Liu","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"China University of Mining and Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Xihui","middleName":"","lastName":"Liu","suffix":""},{"id":534280669,"identity":"d8322549-262b-42db-881f-b67bd4280eaf","order_by":1,"name":"Zhenqi 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China","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Coal Gangue, Heavy Metals, Soil Contamination, Groundwater Pollution, Environmental Risk 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