Spatial characteristics of cadmium in topsoils in a typical e-waste recycling area in southeast China and its potential threat to shallow groundwater

Informal electrical and electronic waste (e-waste) recycling often creates secondary sources of cadmium (Cd) pollution. To characterize the total Cd concentration (Cdtotal) in topsoil and evaluate the threat of Cd in topsoils to shallow groundwater, 187 topsoil samples and 12 shallow groundwater samples were collected in a typical e-waste recycling area in southeast China. Soil organic matter content, soil pH and Cdtotal in topsoil, pH and dissolved Cd concentration in shallow groundwater were measured. Cdtotal in the topsoils showed an inverse distribution trend with soil pH in that high Cd concentrations (and low pH values) were found in the surrounding area of the metal recycling industrial park where there were many family-operated e-waste recycling facilities before the industrial park was established and with low concentrations (and high pH values) in other areas, and they had similar spatial correlation structures. Cd accumulation and acidification were synchronous in topsoils, and soil pH was significantly correlated with Cdtotal in topsoils with low to moderate negative correlation coefficient (r = − 0.24), indicating that both of them maybe correlated with informal recycling. The shallow groundwater in the surrounding area of the metal recycling industrial park was seriously contaminated by Cd, and topsoil Cd accumulation and acidification in the surrounding area of e-waste recycling sites significantly increase the risk of shallow groundwater contaminated by Cd. Action is urgently required to control Cd accumulation and acidification by improving the recycling operations of e-wastes in order to reduce the risk of Cd leaching from topsoils and shallow groundwater contamination.