Health Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals (Pb, Cd, and Cr) in Farmland Soil of Hubei Province

Objectives  The research is designed to evaluate the heavy metal pollution status in 400 farmland soils of Hubei Province, and provide evidence for future formulations of soil pollution prevention and treatment as well as health risk prevention-related policies.

Methods  The pollution indices method, ecological risk assessment, and health risk assessment were adopted.

Results  The pollution degree of 3 heavy metals in farmland soil of Hubei province could be ranked as Cd > Cr > Pb. According to the potential ecological risk assessment, there were 9 soil samples with moderate or severe risks, and the overall potential ecological risk index was 11.31, indicating a slight ecological pollution. The non-carcinogenic risk index of children and adults were both lower than 1, and the carcinogenic risk index of Cd was lower than 10^-6.

Conclusions  The overall assessment of farmland soils of Hubei Province in this study is in the range of clean level, and conforms to the soil standard of agricultural land. The health risks of these 3 heavy metals are all in the acceptable range. However, this study still has certain limitations, and the source of heavy metal pollution as well as its risk assessment remain to be further studied.