title: Impact of Soil Heavy Metal Pollution on Food Safety in China.
abstract: Food safety is a major concern for the Chinese public. This study collected 465 published papers on heavy metal pollution rates (the ratio of the samples exceeding the Grade II limits for Chinese soils, the Soil Environmental Quality Standard-1995) in farmland soil throughout China. The results showed that Cd had the highest pollution rate of 7.75%, followed by Hg, Cu, Ni and Zn, Pb and Cr had the lowest pollution rates at lower than 1%. The total pollution rate in Chinese farmland soil was 10.18%, mainly from Cd, Hg, Cu, and Ni. The human activities of mining and smelting, industry, irrigation by sewage, urban development, and fertilizer application released certain amounts of heavy metals into soil, which resulted in the farmland soil being polluted. Considering the spatial variations of grain production, about 13.86% of grain production was affected due to the heavy metal pollution in farmland soil. These results many provide valuable information for agricultural soil management and protection in China.
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science and Technology, International Institute for Earth System Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China.
authors.forename: Xiuying
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: School of Geographic and Oceanographic Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China.
authors.forename: Taiyang
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science and Technology, International Institute for Earth System Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China; Jiangsu Center for Collaborative Innovation in Geographical Information Resource Development and Application, Nanjing, 210023, China.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science, Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoying
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ouyang
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture; D002104:Cadmium / Q000032:analysis; D002681:China; D002857:Chromium / Q000032:analysis; D003300:Copper / Q000032:analysis; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis*; D059022:Food Safety; D005843:Geography; D007221:Industry; D007854:Lead / Q000032:analysis; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000032:analysis*; D008906:Mining; D009532:Nickel / Q000032:analysis; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry*; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D014505:Urban Population; D015032:Zinc / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D019216:Metals, Heavy; D012987:Soil; D012989:Soil Pollutants; D002104:Cadmium; D002857:Chromium; D007854:Lead; D003300:Copper; D009532:Nickel; D008628:Mercury; D015032:Zinc