文献类型：期刊文献

英文题名：Causal inference between bioavailability of heavy metals and environmental factors in a large-scale region

作者：Liu, Yuqiong[1,2,3] Du, Qingyun[1,4] Wang, Qi[2] Yu, Huanyun[2] Liu, Jianfeng[5] Tian, Yu[2] Chang, Chunying[6] Lei, Jing[7]

第一作者：Liu, Yuqiong

通信作者：Du, QY[1];Wang, Q[2]

机构：[1]Wuhan Univ, Sch Resource & Environm Sci, 129 Luoyu Rd, Wuhan 430079, Peoples R China;[2]Guangdong Inst Ecoenvironm Sci & Technol, Guangdong Key Lab Integrated Agroenvironm Pollut, Guangzhou 510650, Guangdong, Peoples R China;[3]Hunan Hydro&Power Design Inst, Changsha 410007, Hunan, Peoples R China;[4]Wuhan Univ, Key Lab Geog Informat Syst, Minist Educ, 129 Luoyu Rd, Wuhan 430079, Peoples R China;[5]Chinese Acad Forestry, Res Inst Forestry, Beijing 100091, Peoples R China;[6]Guangdong Prov Acad Environm Sci, Guangzhou 510045, Guangdong, Peoples R China;[7]Guangxi Univ, Coll Agr, Nanning 530005, Peoples R China

年份：2017

卷号：226

起止页码：370-378

外文期刊名：ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION

收录：;EI(收录号：20171803618478);Scopus(收录号：2-s2.0-85018171058);WOS:【SCI-EXPANDED(收录号:WOS:000405881800039)】；

基金：YThis work was supported by the national key research and development program (2016YFC0803106), Natural Science Foundations of China (41420104007, 41501550 and 41201517), the "973" Program (2014CB441001), the Guangdong Province Foundation (2014A030310496), the Natural Science Foundations of China, Red Soil CZO project (41571130052), Guangzhou scientific and technology Program (201607010210), Research on Migration/Transformation and Safety Threshold of Heavy Metals in Farmland Systems (2016YFD0800400), National Key Research and Development Program of China, and special funds for technology transfer of Guangdong Academy of Science in Zhongshan City (2016G1FC0016).

语种：英文

外文关键词：Bioavailability; Environmental factor; Causal inference; Heavy metal; Intervention calculus when the directed; acyclic graph is absent; Backdoor criterion

摘要：The causation between bioavailability of heavy metals and environmental factors are generally obtained from field experiments at local scales at present, and lack sufficient evidence from large scales. However, inferring causation between bioavailability of heavy metals and environmental factors across large-scale regions is challenging. Because the conventional correlation-based approaches used for causation assessments across large-scale regions, at the expense of actual causation, can result in spurious insights. In this study, a general approach framework, Intervention calculus when the directed acyclic graph (DAG) is absent (IDA) combined with the backdoor criterion (BC), was introduced to identify causation between the bioavailability of heavy metals and the potential environmental factors across large-scale regions. We take the Pearl River Delta (PRD) in China as a case study. The causal structures and effects were identified based on the concentrations of heavy metals (Zn, As, Cu, Hg, Pb, Cr, Ni and Cd) in soil (0-20 cm depth) and vegetable (lettuce) and 40 environmental factors (soil properties, extractable heavy metals and weathering indices) in 94 samples across the PRD. Results show that the bioavailability of heavy metals (Cd, Zn, Cr, Ni and As) was causally influenced by soil properties and soil weathering factors, whereas no causal factor impacted the bioavailability of Cu, Hg and Pb. No latent factor was found between the bioavailability of heavy metals and environmental factors. The causation between the bioavailability of heavy metals and environmental factors at field experiments is consistent with that on a large scale. The IDA combined with the BC provides a powerful tool to identify causation between the bioavailability of heavy metals and environmental factors across large-scale regions. Causal inference in a large system with the dynamic changes has great implications for system-based risk management. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.