Source apportionment of fluorine pollution in regional shallow groundwater at You’xi County southeast China

Source apportionment of fluorine pollution in the regional shallow groundwater at You’xi County, southeast China, has been analyzed by means of monitoring F− ion change characteristics in this area. Meanwhile, pollution sources and influencing factors of the shallow groundwater have been uncovered by studying the correlation between F− and other related ions such as Na+, Ca2+, Cl−, NO3−, HCO3−, as well as (K+ + Na+)/Ca2+ ratio (R) and pH effect. The results show that F− ions in shallow groundwater at the study area come mainly from the dissolution of fluorinated minerals in a form of fluorite (CaF2), the so-called water-rock interaction, and there is a higher possibility for the occurrence of fluorine water where the ratio of (K+ + Na+)/Ca2+ exceeds a value of 2.1. Moreover, the release and migration of F− ions have been favored by the alkaline environment in this study area.