Factors influencing the heavy metal bioaccessibility in soils were site dependent from different geographical locations

A soil survey was conducted in urban areas from five sites, including Beijing, Baotou, Datong, Fuyang, and Xiantao in China. The objective was to explore the most significant factors that may impact the bioaccessibility of heavy metals (Bio-HMs), including As, Cr, Cu, Pb, and Zn, in soils. Twenty to 30 composite soil samples were collected at each site. The various soil properties, including pH, particle size, Fe/Mn, and organic matter contents, were analyzed. The chemical operated forms of HMs in soils were measured by the Bureau of Reference (BCR) sequential extraction scheme, while the Bio-HMs were determined by the simple bioaccessibility extraction test (SBET) procedure. The concentrations of total heavy metals (T-HMs) in soils from different sites (cities) were in the range as As (5.69–9.86), Cr (77.42–230.20), Cu (15.68–36.54), Pb (14.12–58.93), and Zn (38.66–183.46) mg/kg. Cu and Pb had higher relative bioaccessibilities (48–70 %) than those of As and Cr (6–15 %), indicating higher health risks of the former than the latter two HMs. The Bio-HMs for various HMs were comparable to the first two or three combined BCR extracted fractions, with an exception of Cu, whose Bio-HMs were larger than the combined three BCR fractions, indicating that Cu was highly accessible in soils as compared with other HMs. Factor analysis showed that all variables, including soil property parameters and BCR extracted fractions, could be represented by three common factors extracted with higher than 0.5 loadings and ∼80 % cumulative contribution to the total variance. Among the three common factors, factor 1, containing mainly pH, texture, and Fe/Mn variables, and factor 3, containing mainly organic matter variable, could be attributed to geographical regions, while factor 2, containing mainly BCR extracted fractions, could be ascribed to relative bioaccessibility of HMs (R-Bio-HMs). Interactive mapping of the main factors and cluster analysis were consistent, which supported the “site gathering” of the soil sample pools, suggesting that the Bio-HMs in soils in different geographical localities were site dependent.