Abstract
To assess the pollution situation and human health risks, the concentrations of heavy metals Pb, Cd, Cu, and Zn in paddy soils and white rice around seven mining-affected areas in Hunan Province were analyzed. The ranges of concentrations of Pb (23.9–1595.8 mg kg−1), Cd (0.3–9.5 mg kg−1), Cu (31.2–321.5 mg kg−1) and Zn (56.1–3478.9 mg kg−1) in all paddy soils were significantly higher than Hunan background values and even exceeded the maximum permissible concentrations for paddy soil quality recommended by the Ministry of Environmental Protection of China. The geoaccumulation index (I- geo ) showed that Cd (1.42–6.33) was the predominant pollutant in all paddy soils, while Zn was the least important element. The concentrations of Pb, Cd, Cu, and Zn in white rice ranged from 0.18 to 0.72 mg kg−1, 0.10 to 1.32 mg kg−1, 3.83 to 5.95 mg kg−1, and 8.64 to 18.18 mg kg−1, respectively. Human health risk, associated with these heavy metals, was assessed based on hazard quotients (HQ) and hazard indexes (HI) for adults through consumption of white rice. HQ values of heavy metals (except for Cd) in most of mining-affected areas were below 1.0, while the HI of all heavy metals in all mine areas was higher than 1.0, the maximum acceptable level, suggesting that consumption of such contaminated white rice was a health risk. Except for the Leng Shui-Jiang mine area, Cd was the major contributor to the risk in the mine areas through white rice consumption, amounting to over 67 % of the HI, while Zn was a minimal contributor compared to the other metals.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abedin, M. J., Cresser, M. S., Maharg, A. A., Feldman, J., & Cotter-Howells, J. (2002). Arsenic accumulation and metabolism in rice (Oryza sativa L.). Environmental Science and Technology, 36, 962–968.
Chen, Y. (2002). The present condition and remediation of soil pollution in Hunan. Hunan Agricultural Science, 6, 31–33 (in Chinese).
Gebrekidan, A., Weldegebriel, Y., Hadera, A., & Bruggen, B. V. (2013). Toxicological assessment of heavy metals accumulated in vegetables and fruits grown in Ginfel river near Sheba Tannery, Tigray, Northern Ethiopia. Ecotoxicol. Environ. Saf, 95, 171–178.
Ikeda, M., Zhang, Z. W., Shimbo, S., Watanabe, T., Nakatsuka, H., Moon, C. S., Matsuda-Inoguchi, N., & Higashikawa, K. (2000). Urban population exposure to lead and cadmium in east and south-east Asia. Science of the Total Environment, 249, 373–384.
Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) (2000). Joint FAO/WHO Committee on food additives. Evaluation food additives and contaminants (Fifty-fifth report of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on food Additives). WHO Technical Report Series, No. 896.
Lee, J. S., Chon, H. T., & Kim, K. W. (2005). Human risk assessment of As, Cd, Cu, and Zn in the abandoned metal mine site. Environmental Geochemistry and Health, 27, 185–191.
Lee, J. S., Lee, S. W., Chon, H. T., & Kim, K. W. (2008). Evaluation of human exposure to arsenic due to rice ingestion in the vicinity of abandoned Myungbong Au–Ag mine site, Korea. Journal of Geochemical Exploration, 96, 231–235.
Leung Anna, O. W., Duzgoren-Aydin Nurdan, S., Cheung, K. C., & Wong, M. H. (2008). Heavy metals concentrations of surface dust from e-waste recycling and its human health implications in southeast China. Environmental Science and Technology, 42, 2674–2680.
Li, M. S. (2006). Ecological restoration of mine land with particular reference to the metalliferous mine waste land in China: A review of research and practice. Science of the Total Environment, 357, 38–53.
Li, Y. Y., Wang, H. B., Wang, H. J., Yin, F., Yang, X. Y., & Hu, Y. J. (2014). Heavy metal pollution in vegetables grown in the vicinity of amulti-metalmining area in Gejiu, China: total concentrations, speciation analysis, and health risk. Environmental Science and Pollution Research. doi:10.1007/s11356-014-3188-x.
Liao, B. H., Guo, Z. H., Probst, A., & Probst, J. L. (2005). Soil heavy metal contamination and acid deposition: experimental approach on two forest soils in Hunan, Southern China. Geoderma, 127, 91–103.
Lin, M., Li, G. C., Liu, J. W., Jing, D. H., & Liu, H. L. (2004). An analysis of residents’ nutrition and health status in Hunan province in 2002. Practical Preventive Medicine, 11, 1112–1115 (in Chinese).
Liu, H. Y., Probst, A., & Liao, B. H. (2005). Metal contamination of soils and crops affected by the Chenzhou lead/zinc mine spill (Hunan, China). Science of the Total Environment, 339, 153–166.
Liu, X. M., Song, Q. J., Tang, Y., LiWL, X. J. M., Wu, J. J., Wang, F., & Brookes, P. C. (2013). Human health risk assessment of heavy metals in soil-vegetable system: a multi-medium analysis. Science of the Total Environment, 463(464), 530–540.
Loska, K., Wiechula, D., & Korus, I. (2004). Metal contamination of farming soils affected by industry. Environment International, 30, 159–165.
Ma, H. W., Hung, M. L., & Chen, P. C. (2007). A systemic health risk assessment for the chromium cycle in Taiwan. Environment International, 33, 206–218.
McLaughlin, M. J., Parker, D. R., & Clarke, J. M. (1999). Metals and micronutrients-food safety issues. Field Crops Research, 60, 143–163.
Ministry of Environmental Protection of China (MEP) (1995). Environmental quality standard for soils, (GB15612-1995, Grade 2), (in Chinese).
Ministry of Environmental Protection of China (MEP). (2004). The technical specification for soil environmental monitoring (HJ/T166-2004) (pp. 10–11). Beijing: China Environmental Science Press (in Chinese).
Ministry of Health (MH) (1991). Tolerance limit of Zn in food (GB13106-91), (in Chinese).
Ministry of Health (MH) (1994). Tolerance limit of Cu in food (GB15199-94), (in Chinese).
Ministry of Health (MH), Standardization Administration of China (2005). Maximum Levels of Contaminants in Food (GB2762-2005), (in Chinese).
Müller, G. (1969). Index of geoaccumulation in sediments of the Rhine River. GeoJournal, 2, 108–118.
Müller, G. (1981). Die Schwermetallbelastung der Sedimenten des Neckars und Seiner Nebenflüsse. Chemiker-Zeitung, 6, 157–164.
National Research Council (NRC). (1983). Risk assessment in the Federal Government: managing the process. NAS-NRC committee on the institutional means for assessment of risks to public health. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.
Pan, Y. M., & Yang, G. Z. (1988). Research method and background values of Hunan’s soil (p. 338). Beijing: Chinese Environmental Science Press (in Chinese).
Paustenbach, D. J. (2002). Human and ecological risk assessment: theory and practice. New York: Wiley.
Raghunath, R., Tripathi, R. M., Kumar, A. V., Sathe, A. P., Khandekar, R. N., & Nambi, K. S. V. (1999). Assessment of Pb, Cd, Cu, and Zn exposures of 6- to 10-year-old children in Mumbai. Environmental Research, 80, 215–221.
Sekhar, K. C., Chary, N. S., Kamala, C. T., Rao, J. V., Balaram, V., & Anjaneyulu, Y. (2003). Risk assessment and pathway study of arsenic in industrially contaminated sites of Hyderabad: a case study. Environment International, 29, 601–611.
Shi, G. L., Lou, L. Q., Zhang, S., Xia, X. W., & Cai, Q. S. (2013). Arsenic, copper, and zinc contamination in soil and wheat during coal mining, with assessment of health risks for the inhabitants of Huaibei, China. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 20, 8435–8445.
Shu, W. S., Ye, Z. H., Zhang, Z. Q., Wong, M. H., & Lan, C. Y. (2003). Restoration of lead and zinc mine tailings in South China. Acta Ecologica Sinica, 23, 1629–1639 (in Chinese).
Singh, A. N., Zeng, D. H., & Chen, F. S. (2005). Heavy metal concentrations in redeveloping soil of mine spoil under plantations of certain native woody species in dry tropical environment, India. Journal of Environmental Sciences (China), 1, 168–174.
Tang, X. Y., Zhu, Y. G., Chen, S. B., Tang, L. L., & Chen, X. P. (2004). Assessment of the effectiveness of different phosphorus fertilizers to remediate Pb-contaminated soil using in vitro test. Environment International, 30, 531–537.
Tang, X. Y., Zhu, Y. G., Cui, Y. S., Duan, J., & Tang, L. L. (2006). The effect of ageing on the bioaccessibility and fractionation of cadmium in some typical soils of China. Environment International, 32, 682–689.
Türkdogan, M. K., Fevzi, K., Kazim, K., Ilyas, T., & Ismail, U. (2002). Heavy metals in soil, vegetables and fruits in the endemic upper gastrointestinal cancer region of Turkey. Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology, 13, 175–179.
USEPA (1989). Risk assessment guidance for superfund, vol. I: Human health evaluation manual (Part A). EPA 540/1-89/002. US Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Emergency and Remedial Response. Washington, D.C.
USEPA (1997). Exposure factors handbook (EPA/600/P-95/002Fa) (Update to Exposure Factors Handbook (EPA/600/8-89/043). Environmental Protection Agency Region I, Washington, D.C.
USEPA (1998). Method 3051A: microwave assisted acid digestion of sediments, sludges, soils and oils. In Draft update IVA of SW-846 on-line (http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/ hazwaste/test/up4a.htm); Washington, D.C.
USEPA (1999). Human health and ecological risk assessment support to the development of technical standards for emissions from combustion units burning hazardous wastes: Background document. Washington, D.C.
USEPA (2000). Risk-based concentration table. Philadelphia PA: United States Environmental Protection Agency, Washington D.C.
Wang, L. D. (2005). The report of nutrient and health of Chinese in the 2002s (pp. 19–32). Beijing: People’s hygiene press (in Chinese).
Wang, J. (2010). Ministry of Health wants to repeal the tolerance limit of Zn, Cu, and Fe in food and solicit opinions from the general public. China Health Standard Management, 1, 58–59 (in Chinese).
Williams, P. N., Lei, M., Sun, G. X., Huang, Q., Lu, Y., Deacon, C., Meharg, A. A., & Zhu, Y. G. (2009). Occurrence and partitioning of cadmium, arsenic and lead in mine impacted paddy rice: Hunan, China. Environmental Science and Technology, 43, 637–642.
Zhai, L. M., Liao, X. Y., Chen, T. B., Yan, X. L., Xie, H., Wu, B., & Wang, L. X. (2008). Regional assessment of cadmium pollution in agricultural lands and the potential health risk related to intensive mining activities: a case study in Chenzhou City, China. Journal of Environmental Sciences (China), 20, 696–703.
Zhang, Z., Lu, K., & Meng, Q. F. (2010). Research progress and control countermeasures of heavy metal in vegetables. Journal of Ningbo University (Natural Science & Engineering Edition) , 23, 22–26 (in Chinese).
Zhuang, P., Li, Z. A., McBride, M. B., Zou, B., & Wang, G. (2013). Health risk assessment for consumption of fish originating from ponds near Dabaoshan mine, South China. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 20, 5844–5854.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Science Foundation of China (21007014/B0702), Ministry of Environment Protection’s Special Fund for Scientific Research in the Public Interest (201009047), Key Laboratory of Production Environment and Agro-product Safety of Ministry of Agriculture and Tianjin Key Laboratory of Agro-environment and Food Safety (2010-KJ-KF-03), and by Central Public Research Institutes Basic Funds for Research and Development (Agro-Environmental Protection Institute, Ministry of Agriculture, PR China).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lei, M., Tie, Bq., Song, Zg. et al. Heavy metal pollution and potential health risk assessment of white rice around mine areas in Hunan Province, China. Food Sec. 7, 45–54 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-014-0414-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-014-0414-9