Abstract: Electroplating wastewater flowing into rivers does pollute the agricultural environment. Take for example Pingzhou of Nanhai City, Guangdong Province, the contents of Cu, Zn and Ni in the irrigation water exceeded the standard by 1～14 times, the contents of Cu, Zn, Cr and Ni in the river bed mud by 12～37 times, in the soil by 0.5～2.9 times and in the crops by 0.3～8 times. The pollutant elements flowing into the rivers deposit quite quickly in the mud, whereas the elements going into the soil are mainly accumulated in the plough layer. Crops absorb much more Cu and Zn than Cr and Ni showing the absorption coefficients in such a decreasing sequence as Zn>Cu>Ni>Cr.

Key words: electroplating, heavy metal, Nanhai, Pingzhou, wastewater, agricultural environment, effect