Abstract
Soil cadmium (Cd) contamination has been increasingly serious in agricultural land across China, posing unexpected risks to human health concerning crop safety and terrestrial ecosystems. This study collected Cd concentration data from 3388 soil sites in agricultural regions. To assess the Cd risk to crop safety, a comprehensive sampling investigation was performed to develop reliable Soil Plant Transfer (SPT) model. Eco-toxicity tests with representative soils and organism was conducted to construct the Species Sensitivity Distribution (SSD) for ecological risk assessment. Then, a tiered framework was applied based on Accumulation index, deterministic method (Hazard quotient), and probabilistic assessment (Monte Carlo and Joint Probability Curve). The results revealed the widespread Cd enrichment in agricultural soils, mainly concentrated in Central, Southern, and Southwest China. Risk assessments demonstrated the greater risks related to crop safety, while the ecological risks posed by soil Cd were manageable. Notably, agricultural soils in southern regions of China exhibited more severe risks to both crop safety and soil ecosystem, compared to other agricultural regions. Furthermore, tiered methodology proposed here, can be adapted to other trace elements with potential risks to crop safety and terrestrial ecosystem.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
