Study on atmospheric heavy metal deposition by environmental tracers surrounding copper smelting

There are still some gaps in our understanding of heavy metal atmospheric deposition due to the lack of emission data (Cd and Sb), called “deficiency of emission source information” (DESI), near copper smelting plants. To identify multiple-element spatial diffusion profiles, a technique for analyzing the element-coupling spatial character of environmental traces (dust) is developed. A typical mining area was selected. An aeromod model was used to forecast Pb. Nine deposited dusts were gathered, and their heavy metals and spatial relationships were examined. Environmental traces were used to adjust the prediction results, along with the element-coupling correlations to those unpredicted heavy metals. The average levels of heavy metals (HMs) in dust were Cu 4012.96 kg/mg, Zn 1561.25 kg/mg, Pb 571.45 kg/mg, Arsenic 223.34 kg/mg, Cr 70.69 kg/mg, Ni 50.82 kg/mg, Sb 42.88 kg/mg, and Cd 12.42 kg/mg. Positive relationships ( p < 0.01) were discovered between Cu and Cd (0.952**), Sb (0.909**), Arsenic (0.904**), Pb (0.795*), and Ni (0.694*), addressing the hypothesis that Cu and these HMs were highly homologous emitters. The atmospheric disposition for the elements (Cd, Zn, and Sb) was identified after analyzing the HMs coexistence features of environmental traces, with the average atmospheric deposition being Pb 27.60 mg•m −2 •year −1 , Cd 2.48 mg•m −2 •year −1 , Zn 88.37 mg•m −2 •year −1 , Cu 178.85 mg•m −2 •year −1 , and Sb 19.45 mg•m −2 •year −1 , and the maximum values being Pb 126.22 mg•m −2 •year −1 , Cd 12.84 mg•m −2 •year −1 , Zn 411.45 mg•m −2 •year −1 , Cu 1795.57 mg•m −2 •year −1 , and Sb 29.80 mg•m −2 •year −1 . Heavy metal Cd, Zn, and Sb atmospheric deposition was a significant source of pollution from copper smelt plants, according to our findings, and Cd should be concerned except for Pb. This study presents a creative tool to identify the elements’ lack of emission information, which helps to understand the heavy copper smelt emissions and control the potential risk.