ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Heavy Metal Concentrations in Soil
and Agricultural Products Near
an Industrial District
Yan-Biao Guo, Hong Feng, Chong Chen, Chong-Jian Jia, Fan Xiong, Ying Lu
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College of Natural Resources and Environment, South China Agricultural University,
Guangzhou 510642, China
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2013;22(5):1357-1362
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
This study investigated heavy metals in soils and agricultural products near an industrial district in
Dongguan City. The concentrations of Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd, Hg, and As in soil and agricultural products from veg-
etable and banana fields were determined. Results indicated that except for Zn in one sample and Cd in five
samples, the majority of the samples were notably enriched by heavy metals compared with background val-
ues. The concentrations of heavy metals (mg·kg-1 dry soil) in agricultural soils in the study area ranged from
22.2 to 93.0 for Cu, 31.2 to 213.6 for Zn, 47.6 to 133.5 for Pb, 0.01 to 0.67 for Cd, 0.15 to 0.56 for Hg, and
20.5 to 28.9 for As. Among these soil samples, concentrations of Cu, Zn, Cd, and Hg in 20.6%, 8.8%, 29.4%
and 38.2% soil samples, respectively, exceeded Chinese maximum allowable concentrations (MAC) for agri-
cultural soil. The concentrations of Zn, Pb, and Cd were significantly higher in vegetable than in banana fields.
Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd, and Hg accumulated in the topsoil of vegetable fields, but only Pb and Hg accumulated in
banana fields. Zn, Cd, and Hg accumulated more easily in flowering cabbage than other vegetables. Cu, Zn,
and As were accumulated more easily in banana than lettuce, bunching onion and eggplant. Therefore, the
findings suggest more attention should be focused on the accumulation of heavy metals in banana. This study
presents a practical methodology for screening crops with lower bio-concentration factors for heavy metals to
reduce metal contaminants in the general food supply chain.