ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Environ. Sci.

Sec. Toxicology, Pollution and the Environment

Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2025.1602385

This article is part of the Research TopicRecent Advances in Volatile Organic Compounds, Heavy Metals, Microplastics, and Solid Wastes in EcosystemsView all 7 articles

Assessment and analysis of heavy metal pollution in key production areas of Gastrodia elata in Yunnan, China

Provisionally accepted
Xixi  QianXixi Qian1Yu  LuoYu Luo2Honglei  YangHonglei Yang3Jinghui  WangJinghui Wang3Huimin  ZhangHuimin Zhang3Huineng  ShiHuineng Shi3Qi  LiQi Li3Zhanhua  SongZhanhua Song3Bing  HaoBing Hao4*Wei  FanWei Fan4*
  • 1College of Resources and Environment,State Key Laboratory of Conservation and Utilization of Bio-Resources in Yunnan, The Key Laboratory of Medicinal Plant Biology of Yunnan Province, National and Local Joint Engineering Research Center on Germplasm Innovation and Utilization of Chinese Medicinal Materials in Southwest China, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, China, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, China
  • 2College of Food Science and Technology, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, China
  • 3Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, China
  • 4State Key Laboratory of Conservation and Utilization of Bio-Resources in Yunnan, The Key Laboratory of Medicinal Plant Biology of Yunnan Province, National and Local Joint Engineering Research Center on Germplasm Innovation and Utilization of Chinese Medicinal Materials in Southwest China, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, China, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

As a newly recognized medicinal and edible Chinese herbal medicine, the safety of Gastrodia elata has garnered significant attention. Yunnan Province is the main production area of G. elata in China, but there is a lack of systematic assessments of the distribution patterns of heavy metals in the soil-plant system and their associated human health risks. This study evaluated the pollution status of five heavy metals—cadmium (Cd), arsenic (As), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), and copper (Cu)—in the surface soil (0–20 cm) and G. elata tubers across four major planting areas: Kunming (KM), Zhaotong (ZT), Lijiang (LJ) and Tengchong (TC) in Yunnan Province. The concentrations of heavy metals in soil and G. elata tubers were determined using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and atomic fluorescence spectrometry (AFS). The findings revealed that the surface soils in the sampling areas were acidic, with total nitrogen (TN), total potassium (TK), soil organic matter (SOM), and cation exchange capacity (CEC) reaching abundant levels, while total phosphorus (TP) was relatively low. The pollution levels of the five heavy metals were ranked as Hg > Cd > Cu > As > Pb, with Hg, Cd, and Cu identified as severely polluted. The potential ecological risk assessment indicated a moderate risk, with ZT showing the highest comprehensive pollution level and ecological risk. The enrichment capacity of heavy metals in soil was ranked as Hg > Cd > As > Pb > Cu, while in G. elata tubers it was Cd > Cu > Pb > As. However, there was no significant risk to human health. Correlation analysis indicated that soil Cd and Pb were significantly positively correlated with their respective heavy metal content in G. elata (P < 0.05/P < 0.001). This study provides a scientific basis for controlling soil heavy metal pollution in G. elata planting areas and for assessing the safety of Chinese herbal medicines.

Keywords: Gastrodia elata, Heavy metal contamination, Yunnan Province, soilplant system, health risk assessment

Received: 29 Mar 2025; Accepted: 10 Jul 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Qian, Luo, Yang, Wang, Zhang, Shi, Li, Song, Hao and Fan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence:
Bing Hao, State Key Laboratory of Conservation and Utilization of Bio-Resources in Yunnan, The Key Laboratory of Medicinal Plant Biology of Yunnan Province, National and Local Joint Engineering Research Center on Germplasm Innovation and Utilization of Chinese Medicinal Materials in Southwest China, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, China, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, China
Wei Fan, State Key Laboratory of Conservation and Utilization of Bio-Resources in Yunnan, The Key Laboratory of Medicinal Plant Biology of Yunnan Province, National and Local Joint Engineering Research Center on Germplasm Innovation and Utilization of Chinese Medicinal Materials in Southwest China, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, China, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, China

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