Derivation of the Thresholds of Available Concentrations of Heavy Metals in Soil Based on Agricultural Product Safety

Abstract

Based on the total and available concentrations of heavy metal elements in agricultural soil, and the concentrations of heavy metals in rice collected from Daye city, Hubei province, and the thresholds of available concentrations of heavy metals were derived by species sensitivity distribution (SSD). The over-standard rates of Cd and Cu in the soil were 90.7% and 42.6%, respectively, which indicates that agricultural soil in Daye city exhibits signs of Cd and Cu pollution. The rates of Cd and Pb were 50.9% and 89.8% in brown rice samples, respectively, which exceeds the safety standards of agricultural products. The SSD curves for Cd and Pb were fitted with BurrⅢ distribution based on the ratio of the concentration in brown rice and the available concentration in the soil. The hazardous concentrations (HC5) were derived inversely from the agriculture product safety standards. The thresholds of available Cd and Pb were 0.02 mg·kg-1 and 0.005 mg·kg-1, respectively. Compared with those of available Cd in other countries and studies, the threshold of available Cd is scientifically shown to be reasonable. Soil is not necessarily the main source of Pb in rice; thus, the rice species does not represent the derivation of the threshold of available Pb. Moreover, a lack of the accumulation data of Pb at low accumulation levels and multiple soil pollution levels leads to unreliable derivation. The results indicate that the threshold of available Pb does not have practical significance in soil pollution control.