Arsenic distribution and source in groundwater of Yangtze River Delta economic region,China

This thesis focuses Arsenic (As) distribution and occurrence in groundwater of Yangtze River Delta economic region, East China. 2019 groundwater samples were collected to analyze 26 chemical compositions, including As. The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to find out As source in groundwater. The results show that average As concentration in groundwater of this study is 9.33 μg/l, and maximum As concentration is up to 510 μg/l. The variation coefficient is 314.34%. High arsenic phreatic water (>10 μg/l) distributes along the Yangtze River and its estuary. Weak hydrodynamic conditions, wide pH value variation range and deteriorating environment are dominating factors, especially in Yangtze River Delta. The PCA suggests that arsenic in phreatic water is mainly of natural origin. Part of arsenic may directly originate from sediment organics and be related to organics decomposition.