Investigations on Nitrate Pollution of Soil, Groundwater and Vegetable from Three Typical Farmlands in Beijing Region, China

The aim of this study was to determine the nitrate pollution status of soil, groundwater, and vegetable from three typical farmlands (croplands, vegetable fields, and orchards) in Beijing region. During the investigation, hundreds of the soil, groundwater, and vegetable samples from three typical farmlands were collected and analyzed. In addition, attributes of all samples were recorded for data analysis. The results showed that nitrate was substantially accumulated in soil profiles, while the soil nitrate concentrations of vegetable fields and orchards were higher than those of croplands. Nitrate concentration in 0-30 cm soil of vegetable field and orchard were 3.8 and 1.2 times of that of cropland, respectively. Nitrate content of groundwater in vegetable field was 13.8 mg L−1 (with the over-standard ratio 44.8%), which was 2.8 folds of that in cropland. Nitrate concentration of groundwater under orchard was 9.3 mg L−1 (with the over-standard ratio 23.5%), which was 1.9 folds of that in cropland. High concentrations of the nitrate in vegetables were detected, particularly green leafy vegetables ranked first with 2 685.5 mg kg−1, followed by rhizome vegetables, cabbages, and fruit vegetables. The nitrate over-standard ratios of rhizome vegetables, green leafy vegetables, fruit vegetables, and cabbages were 80.9, 37.9, 29.7, and 2.2%, respectively. The results revealed that the high nitrate concentrations of soil, vegetable, and groundwater might result from the high fertilization dose.