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Potentially toxic metals in farmland soil have recently become a significant environmental concern in China. In this study, the occurrence and distribution of eight (8) heavy metals (HMs) were investigated from 54 topsoil samples obtained across 18 provinces. Human health and ecological hazards associated with HMs were assessed through different risk characterization indices and their sources predicted. The statistically mean concentrations of HMs ranged from 0.08 to 70.05 mg kg−1, which were below the determined threshold values for agricultural lands according to the Chinese National Standard (GB 15618–2018). The respective ecological risk index ( E r i) of HMs revealed that they posed a lower risk ( E r i < 40) but their potential cumulative ecological risk (RI) was determined as a considerable risk (300 ≤ RI < 600). Spatial distribution and heterogeneities of HMs were found to be highly concentrated in the southern parts (e.g., Yunnan, Guangdong) of China, particularly for Arsenic (As), Zinc (Zn), and Chromium (Cr). PMF model was found capable of efficiently elucidating respective sources of HMs across the studied provinces as most were impacted by geological/pedogenic and anthropogenic activities (e.g., agricultural, industrial discharge fallouts). Probabilistic health risk assessment indicated that the non-carcinogenic risk (NCR) and total carcinogenic risk (TCR) of HMs in both adults and children were low and acceptable. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The determination of element contents of Thelephora ganbajun by ICP-MS. • Chemometric approach have benn carried out, the LDA achieved high accuracy rate of 100 %. • Successfully discrimination of the samples by geographic origin. Geographical traceability is essential to the highly valued wild edible mushroom Thelephora ganbajun (T. ganbajun). This work examined the possibility of using the combination of multielement together with multivariate statistics methods, to identify the origins of 40 T. ganbajun from four sites of Yunnan province, China. Multielement analysis of thirteen elements (Mg, K, Ca, Al, Cr, Zn, As, Se, Cd, Pb, Fe, Mn, and P) were investigated by inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS). Pearson correlation analysis was performed to check for the potential relationship between elements. Concentrations were used as chemical indicators to determine the geographical origins of T. ganbajun samples by utilizing multivariate data analysis, including principal component analysis (PCA), hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA), and linear discriminant analysis (LDA). Thirteen elements in T. ganbajun from different regions showed significant differences (p < 0.05), which proved that the elemental composition was an effective tool for distinguishing different origins of T. ganbajun. Classification of T. ganbajun using PCA gave satisfactory results, which permitted the reduction of 13 variables to three principal components explaining 92.84 % of the total variance. The HCA showed four clusters corresponding to the four origins of T. ganbajun. The LDA gave an overall correct classification rate of 100 % with an independent external sample set. These results revealed that multielement analysis combined with chemometrics is a useful tool for distinguishing T. ganbajun geographical origin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]