# Heavy metals pollution from smelting activities: A threat to soil and groundwater

*PRI Rank #1 · Topics and Trends in Most Cited Heavy metals in environment Papers, Class of 2026*

*Canonical URL: https://pri.pepkio.com/top-papers/heavy-metals-in-environment/2026/rank-1*

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Rank | #1 |
| 18m citations | 150 |
| Journal | Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety |
| Year | 2024 |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2024.116189 |
| Corresponding authors | Baohua Xiao |
| Institution | Chinese Academy of Sciences, China |

**Ranking page:** [Topics and Trends in Most Cited Heavy metals in environment Papers, Class of 2026](https://pri.pepkio.com/top-papers/heavy-metals-in-environment/2026)

**Paper link:** [10.1016/j.ecoenv.2024.116189](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2024.116189)

## Topics

Heavy metals · smelting activities · Soil contamination · Groundwater contamination · Mining regions · Urbanization · Carcinogenic risk · Non-carcinogenic risk · children vulnerability · Anthropogenic sources · physical remediation · chemical remediation · biological remediation · phytoremediation · soil monitoring · contaminated soil management

## Cite this ranking

```
Pepkio Research Index (PRI). Topics and Trends in Most Cited Heavy metals in environment Papers, Class of 2026. https://pri.pepkio.com/top-papers/heavy-metals-in-environment/2026. Accessed 2026-07-29.

Zheng Su, Tinsley Li, Thematic Shifts in Early-High-Impact Cancer Genomics and Diagnostics Research: A Bibliometric and Semantic Analysis. bioRxiv 2026.07.04.736459; doi: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.07.04.736459
```