Heavy Metal Contamination and Risk Hotspots in Zacatecas Soils:  An Integrated Geoaccumulation and Multivariate Analysis

Heavy Metal Contamination and Risk Hotspots in Zacatecas Soils: An Integrated Geoaccumulation and Multivariate Analysis | 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 Research Article Heavy Metal Contamination and Risk Hotspots in Zacatecas Soils: An Integrated Geoaccumulation and Multivariate Analysis Edmundo Escareño-Juarez, Ana Isabel Barrado-Olmedo, Marta Fernandez-Diaz, and 5 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7938141/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 evaluates heavy metal contamination in soils from Zacatecas, Mexico, aiming to identify contamination hotspots, assess ecological risks, and explore potential sources through geochemical and multivariate approaches. Forty soil samples were collected across four areas with varying degrees of mining influence. Concentrations of As, Cr, Ni, Co, Cd, Pb, Zn, and Cu were determined using ICP MS. The geoaccumulation index (I geo ), principal component analysis (PCA), hierarchical clustering, and heatmaps were applied to characterize contamination levels, spatial patterns, and source contributions. Area 1 exhibited extreme contamination, with Pb and As concentrations far exceeding regulatory thresholds and I geo values > 6, indicating very severe pollution. Multivariate analyses clearly separated this area from less impacted zones, suggesting a dominant influence of mining residues. In contrast, Areas 3 and 4 showed concentrations close to geogenic background levels. The findings reveal a critical contamination hotspot in Area 1, representing potential risks to human health and the environment. The integrated use of geochemical indices and multivariate statistics proved effective for identifying priority areas for remediation. Heavy metal contamination Soil pollution Geoaccumulation index (Igeo) Multivariate analysis Principal component analysis (PCA) Mining impact Full Text 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. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. 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-7938141","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":535305769,"identity":"aa17fc5b-e932-44fd-bfd3-b603bc6f208f","order_by":0,"name":"Edmundo 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Analysis","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":"Heavy metal contamination, Soil pollution, Geoaccumulation index (Igeo), Multivariate analysis, Principal component analysis (PCA), Mining impact","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7938141/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7938141/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThis study evaluates heavy metal contamination in soils from Zacatecas, Mexico, aiming to identify contamination hotspots, assess ecological risks, and explore potential sources through geochemical and multivariate approaches. Forty soil samples were collected across four areas with varying degrees of mining influence. Concentrations of As, Cr, Ni, Co, Cd, Pb, Zn, and Cu were determined using ICP MS. The geoaccumulation index (I\u003csub\u003egeo\u003c/sub\u003e), principal component analysis (PCA), hierarchical clustering, and heatmaps were applied to characterize contamination levels, spatial patterns, and source contributions. Area 1 exhibited extreme contamination, with Pb and As concentrations far exceeding regulatory thresholds and I\u003csub\u003egeo\u003c/sub\u003e values\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;6, indicating very severe pollution. Multivariate analyses clearly separated this area from less impacted zones, suggesting a dominant influence of mining residues. In contrast, Areas 3 and 4 showed concentrations close to geogenic background levels. The findings reveal a critical contamination hotspot in Area 1, representing potential risks to human health and the environment. The integrated use of geochemical indices and multivariate statistics proved effective for identifying priority areas for remediation.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Heavy Metal Contamination and Risk Hotspots in Zacatecas Soils: \nAn Integrated Geoaccumulation and Multivariate Analysis","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-11-05 13:38:10","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7938141/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","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}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"b0341d24-2c8b-4c5a-9d79-3fb72dd5bc9d","owner":[],"postedDate":"November 5th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-11-08T21:55:58+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-11-05 13:38:10","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7938141","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7938141","identity":"rs-7938141","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}