Heavy metals in agricultural soil in China: A systematic review and meta-analysis

• Published in: Eco-Environment & Health Vol. 1; no. 4; pp. 219 - 228
• Main Authors: Wen, Moyan, Ma, Ziqi, Gingerich, Daniel B., Zhao, Xiao, Zhao, Dongye
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01.12.2022; Elsevier
• Subjects: Agricultural soil; Heavy metal; Meta-analysis; Soil pollution; Spatiotemporal evolution; Agricultural soil; Soil pollution; Spatiotemporal evolution; Heavy metal; Meta-analysis
• ISSN: 2772-9850; 2772-9850
• DOI: 10.1016/j.eehl.2022.10.004

Research about farmland pollution by heavy metals/metalloids in China has drawn growing attention. However, there was rare information on spatiotemporal evolution and pollution levels of heavy metals in the major grain-producing areas. We extracted and examined data from 276 publications between 2010 and 2021 covering five major grain-producing regions in China from 2010 to 2021. Spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of main heavy metals/metalloids was obtained by meta-analysis. In addition, subgroup analyses were carried out to study preliminary correlations related to accumulation of the pollutants. Cadmium (Cd) was found to be the most prevailing pollutant in the regions in terms of both spatial distribution and temporal accumulation. The Huang-Huai-Hai Plain was the most severely polluted. Accumulation of Cd, mercury (Hg) and copper (Cu) increased from 2010 to 2015 when compared with the 1990 background data. Further, the levels of five key heavy metals (Cd, Cu, Hg, lead [Pb] and zinc [Zn]) showed increasing trends from 2016 to 2021 in all five regions. Soil pH and mean annual precipitation had variable influences on heavy metal accumulation. Alkaline soil and areas with less rainfall faced higher pollution levels. Farmlands cropped with mixed species showed smaller effect sizes of heavy metals than those with single upland crop, suggesting that mixed farmland use patterns could alleviate the levels of heavy metals in soil. Of various soil remediation efforts, farmland projects only held a small market share. The findings are important to support the research of risk assessment, regulatory development, pollution prevention, fund allocation and remediation actions. [Display omitted] •Spatiotemporal evolution of 8 metals in 5 major ag-regions in China was obtained.•Increasing trends of Cd, Hg, Pb, Cu, and Zn were found in all 5 regions from 1990 to 2021.•Cadmium was not only the most detected metal but showed the highest increasing trend.•Huanghuaihai Plain was the most polluted region with heavy metals/metalloids.•Mixed farmland use patterns may alleviate soil accumulation of heavy metals.