Study on Camellia Sinensis Heavy Metal and Environmental Factors around Typical Mining Area

There is limited information on heavy metal in green tea ( Camellia sinensis ) and the relating soil factors around the areas with high heavy metal exposure, such as mining area. It will bring some gaps on the safety control for tea planting soil. Therefore, this study is aimed to establish the relationships between tea heavy metal levels and the relating soil factors. Thirty two green tea samples were obtained, and then analysed. The average of the heavy metal in tea were expressed in mean±S.D. as Pb (2.60±3.63 mg/kg), Cd (0.23±0.36 mg/kg), Hg (0.01±0.00 mg/kg) and As (0.06±0.10 mg/kg), respectively. Correlations between tea heavy metal and the counterpart of tea extraction soaking in water were probed, and the strong positive verified as Pb (R 2 0.91, p<0.01) and Cd (R 2 0.98, p<0.01). Furthermore, the linear dynamic fitting was established to describe the both heavy metal in tea and tea extraction. Additionally, it addressed the view that the presence of soil Cd and Pb related to that of tea, even tea extraction solution. This study presents a novel insight into the method of establishing the relationship between heavy metal in tea extraction liquid, tea amount and the relating soil index, which also provide a perspective way for calculating the exposure amount of drinking tea.