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The residential areas, cultural and educational areas, city parks, commercial areas, urban roads, industrial zones, and development zones in Hohhot were selected as the research objects. Sixty-two soil samples were collected by triple subsampling technique in the seven functional zones. The aim of this study is to control the soil heavy metal pollution of Hohhot and provide the basic information. To investigate and analyze the heavy metal pollution in soil in different functional zones of Hohhot, the pollution of heavy metal was assessed with single factor pollution index and Nemerow integrated pollution index, and the pollution sources were discriminated by Principal Component Analysis. Contents of seven kinds of heavy metals were analyzed in different functional zones of Hohhot. The mean contents of heavy metals in soil samples exceeded the corresponding background values in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The mean contents of Cu and Zn were 2. 33 and 1. 85 times, respectively, as high as the soil background values of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Single factor pollution index showed that the urban soil in Hohhot has been polluted by heavy metals. The Cu pollution was the most severe in commercial areas, and the pollution degree was in the following order: Cu > Zn > Cr > Mn > As > Ni > Pb. Nemerow integrated pollution index showed that soils from the commercial areas were seriously contaminated by heavy metals. The soil of urban roads was moderately polluted. The soils from cultural and educational areas and the city parks were slightly polluted. The Nemerow integrated pollution index of the seven areas ranked as follows: commercial areas (3.03) > urban roads (2.12) > residential areas (1.98) > cultural and educational areas (1.81) > industrial zones (1.72) > development zones (1.36) > city parks (1. 28). The results of Principal Component Analysis showed that the heavy metals in soil of Hohhot came from different sources. Cr, Cu, Mn, Pb and Zn were mainly originated from anthropogenic sources while Ni and As were mainly controlled by natural sources. The healthy development of urban ecosystem has been threatened by soil heavy metal pollution in Hohhot.

The pollution status and total concentration of soil heavy metals were analyzed around tailing reservoir of Baotou and iron mining of Bayan Obo located in Inner Mongolia grassland ecosystem. Aim of the study is to control soil heavy metal pollution of grassland mining area and provide the basic information. The results indicated that the soils from different directions of the tailing reservoir were contaminated by Pb, Cu, Zn and Mn. According to the single factor pollution index, the pollution degree was Mn > Zn > Pb > Cu. According to Nemerow integrated pollution index, the indexes of the northeast, southeast, southwest, and northwest of the tailing reservoir, were 2.43, 10.2, 1.88, 1.64. Soils from the southeast had the most serious heavy metal contamination because of the dominant wind of northwest. Within 50 m from the edge of tailing reservoir, heavy metal contamination was most serious except Cu. With regard to Bayan Obo iron mining, the single factor pollution index indicated that the soils from the six surveyed regions were contaminated by Pb, Cu, Zn and Mn. The integrated pollution index indicated that the indexes of the six regions, such as the mining area, the dump, outside the dump, outside the urban area, east region of the railway, and west region of the railway, were 14.3, 4.30, 2.69, 3.41, 2.88, and 2.20, respectively. The soil pollution degree of the mining area was the highest. Additionally, the transport of ore resulted in soil heavy metal pollution along railway. In general, soils of the two studied areas had the similar pollution characteristic, and the elements of heavy metal contamination were corresponding with the concentrations of tailings. The health and stabilization of grassland ecosystem are being threatened by soil heavy metals.