Soil Quality and Heavy Metal Source Analyses for Characteristic Agricultural Products in Luzuo Town, China

Zhaoyu Zhou, Zeming Shi (), Linsong Yu, Haiyin Fan and Fang Wan
Additional contact information
Zhaoyu Zhou: College of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, China
Zeming Shi: College of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, China
Linsong Yu: School of Resources, Environment and Tourism, Anyang Normal College, Anyang 455000, China
Haiyin Fan: Shandong Provincial Research Center of Geological Survey Engineering and Technology, Jinan 250013, China
Fang Wan: Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jinan 250013, China

Agriculture, 2025, vol. 15, issue 13, 1-19

Abstract: Identifying the soil quality and the sources of heavy metals in the production areas of characteristic agricultural products is crucial for ensuring the quality of such products and the sustainable development of agriculture. This research took the farmland soil of Luzuo Town, a characteristic production area of Cangshan garlic in Linyi City, as the research object. The contents of Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn, As, Hg, and Cd in farmland soil were analyzed. The ecological risks were evaluated using the Geographical Cumulative Index ( I geo ) and the Potential Ecological Risk Index. The spatial distribution characteristics of the elements were determined through geostatistical analysis, and Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) was used for source apportionment. The results show the following: (1) The average concentrations of all heavy metals exceeded local background values, with Cr and Hg surpassing the screening thresholds from China’s “Soil Pollution Risk Control Standards” (GB 15618-2018). (2) The results of the Moran’s index show that, except for Hg and Cd, all the elements had a high spatial autocorrelation, and there are two potential highly polluted areas in the study area. (3) Soils were generally uncontaminated or low risk, with Hg and Cd as the primary ecological risk contributors. (4) Five sources were quantified: fertilizer and pesticide sources (32.28%); mixed sources of fertilizer, pesticides, and manure (14.15%); mixed sources of traffic activities and agricultural waste discharge (19.95%); natural sources (20.55%); and incineration sources (13.07%). This study demonstrates the value of integrating geospatial and statistical methods for soil pollution management. Targeted control of Hg/Cd and reduced agrochemical use are recommended to protect this important agricultural region.

Keywords: township scale; pollution assessment; Moran’s index; source analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/15/13/1360/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/15/13/1360/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jagris:v:15:y:2025:i:13:p:1360-:d:1687173

Access Statistics for this article

Agriculture is currently edited by Ms. Leda Xuan

More articles in Agriculture from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().