Development of a new methodology for multifaceted assessment, analysis, and characterization of soil contamination

It is important to identify key performance and core progress features of soil contamination management practices. Traditional research currently focuses on numerical statistics of contaminated sites but exhibits structural limitations regarding cross-assessment and in-depth analysis of published findings. Herein, we report a multidimensional perspective to assess the environmental management performance of soil contamination via systematic and historical development of construction land risk control and remediation lists (RCRLs). The considered contaminated sites are mainly concentrated in Northern China, Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, and Sichuan-Chongqing regions. Monthly historical overviews indicate that most lists are updated 4-5 times within 32 months. Direct chemical-related industrial production results in the largest number of contaminated sites. Arsenic and lead are the most common heavy metals of concern in soil contamination. The fiscal revenue index exhibits the best positive performance in terms of the number of contaminated sites. By employing the site number, update frequency, and published contents of different calculation proportions, ten types of integrated assessment indicators (IAIs) are established to evaluate the environmental achievements in various provincial regions in regard to soil contamination protection. This multifaceted strategy can provide advanced guidance for Chinese environmental management and expand the application of soil pollution risk control and remediation in a wide range of countries.