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| Risk assessment of heavy metals in farmland soils in an agricultural region in the Yangtze River Delta |
| Received:November 25, 2020 |
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| KeyWord:farmland soils;heavy metals;pollution assessment;health risk assessment;spatial distribution |
| Author Name | Affiliation | E-mail | | CUI Yunxia | School of Environment, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, China | | | CAO Weiqi | School of Environment, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, China | | | LI Weidi | Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Environmental Engineering, Jiangsu Provincial Academy of Environmental Science, Nanjing 210036, China | liwd9502@163.com | | MA Tao | Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Nanjing 210042, China | | | XU Lu | School of Environment, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, China | | | XIA Mengru | School of Environment, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, China | |
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| Abstract: |
| We aimed to investigate the pollution and health risks of heavy metals in farmland soils in the Taige Canal, an agricultural region in the Yangtze River Delta, China. A total of 115 farmland soil samples were collected and the concentrations of Cd, Cu, Zn, Ni, Pb, Cr, Hg, and As were determined. The pollution characteristics and health risks of farmland soils were evaluated using geo-accumulation index, potential ecological risk index, and health risk assessment model. The results indicated that the average concentrations of heavy metals met the farmland environmental quality evaluation standards for edible agricultural products, but the mean concentrations of Cd, Cu, Zn, Ni, and Pb exceeded the baseline value for Jiangsu Province. Farmland soils were slightly contaminated with Cd and Pb and the potential ecological risk was low. The average non-carcinogenic risk（THI）for adults and children was 1.37 and 0.26, respectively. The average carcinogenic risk（TCR）for adults and children was 1.42E-05 and 1.65E-05, respectively. The carcinogenic risk in the study area was acceptable. However, children faced significant non-carcinogenic risks. Cr and As were the most important health risk related elements. These results demonstrated that hot spots for THI and TCR for adults and children were distributed in the middle reaches of the southern and downstream regions of the Taige Canal, locations with a high level of anthropogenic activities. |
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