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Assessment of cadmium (Cd) concentration in arable soil in China

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Abstract

Cadmium (Cd) concentration in arable soil has drawn broad public attention due to its direct effect on Cd concentration in food. However, there have been few studies of surveying Cd accumulation on the national scale in China. This paper collected 486 studies of Cd concentrations in Chinese arable soil. The results showed that the average Cd concentration was 0.27 mg/kg, higher than its background value, indicating that Cd had been introduced into arable soil by human activity. The Cd concentrations in areas of mining and smelting, urban areas, and areas irrigated by wastewater were obviously higher than that in remote areas. Spatially, Cd concentrations were lower in the north than those in the south, and many hotspots existed throughout China due to mining and smelting activities. Most Cd in the arable soil were accumulated from external sources in all investigated provinces except Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

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Acknowledgments

This study is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41271190), State Scholarship Fund of China (No. 20120832013 and 201208320127), and a Project Funded by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science and Technology, International Institute for Earth System Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China

    Xiuying Zhang, Xiaomin Zhang, Min Cheng & Xinhui Li

  2. Department of Geography, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, K7L 3N6, Canada

    Dongmei Chen

  3. School of Geographic and Oceanographic Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China

    Taiyang Zhong

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  1. Xiuying Zhang
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  2. Dongmei Chen
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  3. Taiyang Zhong
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  4. Xiaomin Zhang
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  5. Min Cheng
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  6. Xinhui Li
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Correspondence to Xiuying Zhang or Dongmei Chen.

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Zhang, X., Chen, D., Zhong, T. et al. Assessment of cadmium (Cd) concentration in arable soil in China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 4932–4941 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3892-6

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