College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, PR China.
College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, PR China; Key Laboratory of Plant Nutrition and the Agri-environment in Northwest China, Ministry of Agriculture, Yangling 712100, Shaanxi, PR China.
Sci Total Environ. 2024 Nov 10;950:175321. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.175321. Epub 2024 Aug 5.
Selenium (Se)-rich farmland is a valuable and nonrenewable resource for addressing the global challenge of Se deficiency. However, frequent warnings of heavy metal pollution have threatened the safety and legitimacy of Se-rich functional agriculture, eventually damaged public health security. Definitive and judgmental quantitative studies on this hazardous phenomenon are still missing. Relevant reviews published in the past have summarized textual descriptions of the problem, lacking the support of the necessary statistical analysis of the data. Based on the collected publications, the present study evaluated and analyzed the sources, risks and impacts of heavy metal pollution in Se-rich farmland. Concentrations of cadmium (Cd), arsenic, lead and zinc in Se-rich farmland were significantly higher than those in non-Se-rich farmland, especially Cd. Pollution source analyses indicated that Se enrichment and heavy metal pollution occurred simultaneously in farmland, related to Se-heavy metal homology in rocks. According to environmental risk assessment, both serious Cd pollution and the narrow Se concentration range of safety utilization limited the availability of Se-rich farmland. Pollution impact predictions showed that the pollution in Se-rich farmland would result in serious human health risks to consumers and economic losses of 4000 yuan/hm on production side. Tackling Cd pollution was anticipated to recover economic losses (81 %) while lowering the carcinogenic (60 %) and non-carcinogenic (10 %) health risks. Our study also provided recommendations to address heavy metal pollution in Se-rich farmland. The two criteria should be followed by pollution control strategies applied to Se-rich functional agriculture including (i) not affecting the original Se enrichment in plant and (ii) not being interfered by Se in soil-plant systems. This will provide valuable information for Se-rich functional agriculture and public health security.
富硒农田是解决全球硒缺乏问题的宝贵且不可再生资源。然而，频繁出现的重金属污染警告威胁着富硒功能农业的安全性和合法性，最终损害了公共卫生安全。目前仍然缺乏对这一危险现象的明确和有判断性的定量研究。过去发表的相关综述总结了该问题的文本描述，缺乏对数据进行必要的统计分析。基于已收集的出版物，本研究评估和分析了富硒农田中重金属污染的来源、风险和影响。富硒农田中镉（Cd）、砷、铅和锌的浓度明显高于非富硒农田，尤其是 Cd。污染源分析表明，硒的富集和重金属污染同时发生在农田中，这与岩石中硒-重金属的同源性有关。根据环境风险评估，严重的 Cd 污染和安全利用硒的浓度范围狭窄限制了富硒农田的可用性。污染影响预测表明，富硒农田的污染将对消费者造成严重的健康风险，并在生产方面造成 4000 元/公顷的经济损失。预计治理 Cd 污染将恢复经济损失（81%），同时降低致癌（60%）和非致癌（10%）健康风险。我们的研究还为解决富硒农田的重金属污染提供了建议。污染控制策略应遵循两个标准，适用于富硒功能农业，包括（i）不影响植物中原有的硒富集，和（ii）不被土壤-植物系统中的硒干扰。这将为富硒功能农业和公共卫生安全提供有价值的信息。
