Geochemistry and human health risks of heavy metals in soils from gold mineralized Birimian rocks in Southwestern Burkina Faso

This study aims to identify sources and health risks of a series of heavy metals in topsoil from Birimian basement rocks in southwestern Burkina Faso. Concentrations of geochemical data of 66 samples were determined using ICP-MS. R-mode factor analysis, Sediment/Soil Quality Guidelines and ecologica...

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Main Authors: Kadidiatou Coulibaly, Aboubakar Sako
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2025-12-01
Series:Sustainable Environment
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Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/27658511.2025.2454749
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author Kadidiatou Coulibaly
Aboubakar Sako
author_facet Kadidiatou Coulibaly
Aboubakar Sako
author_sort Kadidiatou Coulibaly
collection DOAJ
description This study aims to identify sources and health risks of a series of heavy metals in topsoil from Birimian basement rocks in southwestern Burkina Faso. Concentrations of geochemical data of 66 samples were determined using ICP-MS. R-mode factor analysis, Sediment/Soil Quality Guidelines and ecological and human health risk indices were used to investigate the associations between the heavy metals and their impacts on the ecosystem and the local population. It can be noted that 78, 83 and 85% of the samples had maximum concentrations of Ni, Cr and As higher than their respective SQG indices. The mean concentrations of these key contaminants were 42.09, 233.1 and 7.72 mg/kg for Ni, Cr and As, respectively. According to the median effect range mean quotient (MERMQ), 87.9% (MERMQ >0.11) of the samples had 29% probability of being toxic. In contrast, the contamination severity indices (CSI) ranged from 0.17 to 2.11, indicating a very low to moderate probability toxicity. Factor analysis indicated that chemical weathering, with 57% of the total variance, was the dominant factor controlling the soil geochemistry followed by artisanal gold mining (10%) and farming (9%). Thus, weathering was the major contributor to heavy metal loading including Ni, Cr and As. Among heavy metals, only Cr, Ni, As and Ba posed non-cancerogenic (THI >1) and cancerogenic (TCR >1.0 × 10−4) risks to the exposed population with children being the most vulnerable. In the absence of prior knowledge of the soil geochemical status, the heavy metals may be redistributed in the soil environment, and thereby compromising human health.
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spelling doaj-art-9808660bd85c43b8a2ae192f893a541e2025-01-23T05:41:34ZengTaylor & Francis GroupSustainable Environment2765-85112025-12-0111110.1080/27658511.2025.2454749Geochemistry and human health risks of heavy metals in soils from gold mineralized Birimian rocks in Southwestern Burkina FasoKadidiatou Coulibaly0Aboubakar Sako1Laboratoire Géosciences et Environnement (LaGE), Département des Sciences de la Terre, Université Joseph Ki-Zerbo, Ouagadougou, Burkina FasoLaboratoire Géosciences et Environnement (LaGE), Département des Sciences de la Terre, Université Joseph Ki-Zerbo, Ouagadougou, Burkina FasoThis study aims to identify sources and health risks of a series of heavy metals in topsoil from Birimian basement rocks in southwestern Burkina Faso. Concentrations of geochemical data of 66 samples were determined using ICP-MS. R-mode factor analysis, Sediment/Soil Quality Guidelines and ecological and human health risk indices were used to investigate the associations between the heavy metals and their impacts on the ecosystem and the local population. It can be noted that 78, 83 and 85% of the samples had maximum concentrations of Ni, Cr and As higher than their respective SQG indices. The mean concentrations of these key contaminants were 42.09, 233.1 and 7.72 mg/kg for Ni, Cr and As, respectively. According to the median effect range mean quotient (MERMQ), 87.9% (MERMQ >0.11) of the samples had 29% probability of being toxic. In contrast, the contamination severity indices (CSI) ranged from 0.17 to 2.11, indicating a very low to moderate probability toxicity. Factor analysis indicated that chemical weathering, with 57% of the total variance, was the dominant factor controlling the soil geochemistry followed by artisanal gold mining (10%) and farming (9%). Thus, weathering was the major contributor to heavy metal loading including Ni, Cr and As. Among heavy metals, only Cr, Ni, As and Ba posed non-cancerogenic (THI >1) and cancerogenic (TCR >1.0 × 10−4) risks to the exposed population with children being the most vulnerable. In the absence of prior knowledge of the soil geochemical status, the heavy metals may be redistributed in the soil environment, and thereby compromising human health.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/27658511.2025.2454749Heavy metalsSoil geochemistryArtisanal gold miningChemical weatheringR-mode analysis
spellingShingle Kadidiatou Coulibaly
Aboubakar Sako
Geochemistry and human health risks of heavy metals in soils from gold mineralized Birimian rocks in Southwestern Burkina Faso
Sustainable Environment
Heavy metals
Soil geochemistry
Artisanal gold mining
Chemical weathering
R-mode analysis
title Geochemistry and human health risks of heavy metals in soils from gold mineralized Birimian rocks in Southwestern Burkina Faso
title_full Geochemistry and human health risks of heavy metals in soils from gold mineralized Birimian rocks in Southwestern Burkina Faso
title_fullStr Geochemistry and human health risks of heavy metals in soils from gold mineralized Birimian rocks in Southwestern Burkina Faso
title_full_unstemmed Geochemistry and human health risks of heavy metals in soils from gold mineralized Birimian rocks in Southwestern Burkina Faso
title_short Geochemistry and human health risks of heavy metals in soils from gold mineralized Birimian rocks in Southwestern Burkina Faso
title_sort geochemistry and human health risks of heavy metals in soils from gold mineralized birimian rocks in southwestern burkina faso
topic Heavy metals
Soil geochemistry
Artisanal gold mining
Chemical weathering
R-mode analysis
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/27658511.2025.2454749
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