Some of farmland soil was investigated contain high concentrations of Cr and Ni in eastern Taiwan. Based on geology and pedology research method (including field geology survey, major and trace element geochemical analysis, field morphological description of soil profiles, soil genesis characteristics research, mineral and phase identification, farmland soil sampling and heavy metal concentration analysis), the project confirms that (1) some of farmland soil in eastern Taiwan is located in the serpentine or ultramafic parent rocks distributed area; (2) high concentrations of Cr and Ni in soils are affected by local natural environment and geological background factors, for geochemical anomaly reasons not attributable to external pollution. The concentration of Cr and Ni are low in air, surface water, groundwater and food crops that were not affected by geology reason. The results of this project indicate that there is no impact on public health and the living environment for the resident who lived in the serpentine soil regions, food crops cultivated there are safe to eat.

soil background concentration, serpentine, geochemical anomaly