Source-sink processes and risk prediction of heavy metals in agricultural soil under typical anthropogenic activities

PhD defence by Qiumei Wu

Assessment Committee

Professor Fulai Liu, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen (Chairperson)
Professor Longhua WU, Department of Soil Environment and Remediation, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Senior Researcher Rasmus Jacobsen, Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS)

Supervisors

Professor Hans Christian Bruun Hansen
Professor Biao Huang

Department

Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences

Place

Digital defence, please follow the link: https://ucph-ku.zoom.us/j/4887022614?pwd=NERIZ05oMUo4aUl3NmRLekxiS0VlQT09
Password, if relevant: 281397

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Short description of the thesis

Heavy metal contamination in agricultural soils can threaten food safety, ecosystem health, and human well-being, particularly in regions affected by intensive mining, industry, and agriculture. This PhD thesis investigates how heavy metals enter, accumulate, migrate, and ultimately reach crops and humans in two contrasting agricultural regions of Jiangsu Province, China. By combining environmental monitoring, isotope tracing, source apportionment, health risk assessment, and predictive modelling, the study identifies the major pollution sources and pathways controlling heavy metal accumulation. It also explores how soil properties regulate crop uptake and predicts how contamination may develop over the coming decades. The findings provide a scientific basis for targeted pollution control and safer agricultural land management.