Abstract:Pollution status of Hg, As, Cd, Cr, Pb, Cu and Zn in farmland soil around an abandoned lead-zinc mining area was investigated. Degree of heavy metal pollution and spatial distribution were evaluated with combination of single factor index method, ground accumulation index method, pollution index load method, grey clustering method and clustering heat map analysis. Pollution pathway was identified by correlation analysis and principal component analysis. The results show that concentrations of Cd, Zn, Hg, Pb, Cu and As in soils of investigated area all exceed the background value of Guizhou Province. The soils are heavily polluted with Cd, moderately polluted with Zn, Pb and Hg. Degree of pollution positively correlates with distance to river and mine. The main pollution factor is Cd, the secondary pollution factors are Hg and Zn, and all sampling points are in serious pollution. The sources of heavy metals in study area are divided into four categories. Cu, Cd and Zn are industrial sources of pollution, mainly from mining. As and Hg pollution are related to industrial and agricultural sources while content of Cr and Pb is affected by many sources of transportation and industrial sources as well as natural sources.