Heavy metals in soil-vegetable system around E-waste site and the health risk assessment

Investigating the farmland quality around electronic waste (E-waste) dismantling site and taking positive measures to ensure local food safety are urgent. Eleven types of vegetables (n = 184) and their corresponding soils were collected from vegetable fields in a city with famous historical e-waste activities in China. Nemerow integrated pollution indices analysis revealed that local vegetable fields suffered from heavy metal pollution to a certain extent, especially with regards to Cd, Cu, and Zn. The human health risk models provided by USEPA have been used to evaluate the non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks associated with the consumption of vegetables by local residents. Results indicated that both adults and children were suffering potential health risks. And the consumption of lettuce and sweet potato caused the greatest health risk, whereas cabbage and cowpea were relatively safe. The bioaccumulation factors (BAF) of heavy metals in various vegetables were calculated, and different vegetables showed huge variance in metal accumulation. Considering both contamination status and health risk assessment, cabbage and cowpea were selected as low accumulators of heavy metals. This study reveals the need for adjusting plantation structure and applying amendments to current protocols to alleviate the adverse effects caused by soil pollution.