Industrial-source heavy metal(loid) pollution pressure on China's farmland soils: Enterprise-level assessment and...

Industrial activities are widely recognized contributors to soil heavy metal(loid) contamination, yet quantifying their contributions and associated pollution risks to farmland soils remains challenging. This study addresses two critical issues in pollution risk quantification and spatial representation by developing an assessment and spatialization framework for industry-related heavy metal(loid) pollution pressure on farmland soils. This framework projects enterprise-level environmental behaviors onto farmland parcels by integrating pollution pressure characterization, impact zone delineation, and spatial interaction function. Using China as a case study, we found that 12.96% of farmland soils are potentially affected by industry-related heavy metal(loid) pollution pressure, with industrial waste gas- and wastewater-related pollution pressures affecting 6.12% and 9.83% of farmland areas, respectively. Regions experiencing substantial industrial pollution pressure were primarily classified into two categories: (1) economically developed and highly industrialized regions, such as the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and surrounding areas, Yangtze River Delta, and Pearl River Delta; and (2) regions with dense distributions of heavy metal(loid)-related industries, such as the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and southwestern China. Nonferrous metal-related industries represented the dominant contributors to industrial pollution pressure, followed by sectors such as leather tanning and metal processing. Although industry-related pollution pressure exhibited certain spatial associations with major crop cultivation patterns, areas with elevated pollution pressure showed considerable spatial divergence from China's major agricultural production regions.