Heavy Metal Pollution and Risk Assessment of Vegetables and Soil in Jinhua City of China

Yangbin Mao, Maomao Wang, Hewen Wei, Ning Gong, Feijuan Wang () and Cheng Zhu
Additional contact information
Yangbin Mao: Key Laboratory of Specialty Agri-product Quality and Hazard Controlling Technology of Zhejiang Province, College of Life Sciences, China Jiliang University, Hangzhou 310018, China
Maomao Wang: Key Laboratory of Specialty Agri-product Quality and Hazard Controlling Technology of Zhejiang Province, College of Life Sciences, China Jiliang University, Hangzhou 310018, China
Hewen Wei: Jinhua Institute of Food and Drug Inspection and Testing, Jinhua 321000, China
Ning Gong: Yiwu Product and Commodity Quality Inspection Institute, Jinhua 322000, China
Feijuan Wang: Key Laboratory of Specialty Agri-product Quality and Hazard Controlling Technology of Zhejiang Province, College of Life Sciences, China Jiliang University, Hangzhou 310018, China
Cheng Zhu: Key Laboratory of Specialty Agri-product Quality and Hazard Controlling Technology of Zhejiang Province, College of Life Sciences, China Jiliang University, Hangzhou 310018, China

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 5, 1-18

Abstract: To understand the heavy metal (Cd, Cr and Pb) pollution situation and exposure risk of the vegetables and soil in Jinhua City, soil–vegetable samples collected from three districts of Jinhua City were analyzed in detail, and the risks of heavy metal concentration in vegetable and soil were evaluated using the single pollution index, Nemerow pollution index, Hakanson potential ecological index and a health risk assessment. The results indicate that: (1) The soil in Jinhua City is mainly polluted by Cd, and the BCF of heavy metals in vegetables was leafy vegetables > rootstalk vegetables > solanaceous vegetables. (2) Heavy metals had slight pollution in the surrounding environment, and the ecological risk of soil heavy metals in the sampling area was generally at a low risk level. (3) Children are more likely to suffer from non-carcinogenic risks; Cr is the main source of this risk (HQ Cr = 0.74). More than 90% of vegetables in the sampling had cancer risk, adults are more likely to suffer from carcinogenic risks, and Cd is the main source of potential cancer risk (TCR = 4.34 × 10 −4 ). Therefore, in our study area, Cd is the main factor of soil pollution that can cause potential cancer risk through vegetable enrichment, and Cr is the main factor causing the non-carcinogenic risk of leafy vegetables.

Keywords: soil; vegetables; heavy metals; ecological risk assessment; health risk assessment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/5/4241/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/5/4241/ (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:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:5:p:4241-:d:1081809

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

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