Accumulation, transfer, and potential sources of mercury in the soil-wheat system under field conditions over the Loess Plateau, northwest China

Wang, Shengli; Zhang, Nan; Prete, Daniel; Ma, Jianmin; Liao, Qin; Zhang, Qian

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.06.034

Cited by 54 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…The PDI of MeHg in Northwest populations was the lowest in China and more than 99% of the probability distribution was under the EPA’s RfD (Figure 5). This was due primarily to the low translocation factor of Hg into wheat grains (Wang et al, 2016), which is the base diet for these Northwest populations. This means that for MeHg susceptive populations, such as the pregnant women living in mining areas, a wheat-containing food-based diet could be a better choice than rice, due to high MeHg concentration in rice produced in mining areas (Zhang et al, 2010).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of farmed fish consumption and food trade on methylmercury exposure in China

Liu

Chen

et al. 2018

Environment International

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The global pollutant mercury (Hg), especially as methylmercury (MeHg), threatens human and ecosystem health. But major contributors of MeHg exposure to people in China remain highly debated. We developed the China Mercury Exposure Assessment (CMEA) model, which incorporates human exposure pathways for MeHg and total Hg (THg), the interregional, including international and interprovincial, food trading as well as human physiology to provide a comprehensive system that can evaluate the pathway of Hg forms to human consumers in China. Based on the CMEA model that employed the most comprehensive and recent data, we have found that the probable daily intake (PDI) of MeHg for the Chinese population was 0.057 (range: 0.036 – 0.091 as 60% confidence interval) μg·kg−1·day−1, while that of THg was 0.35 (range: 0.22 – 0.55) μg·kg−1·day−1. MeHg exposure was dominated by fish intake, especially by farm-raised freshwater fish due to higher consumption of these fish. In 2011, fish intake contributed to 56% to the total MeHg exposure, followed by rice (26%). Consumption of farm-raised fish reduced human exposure to MeHg by 33%. On the other hand, interregional food trading increased MeHg exposure of the Chinese population, as a whole, by 7.6%. The international and interprovincial food trades contributed to 5.1% and 22% of MeHg intake, respectively. For the whole China, fish intake related exposure to MeHg was highest for the Eastern and Northeastern populations, while Tibetans were chronically exposed to the highest MeHg from other sources. Our findings highlight the importance of farmed fish and food trade for MeHg exposure.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of farmed fish consumption and food trade on methylmercury exposure in China

Liu

Chen

et al. 2018

Environment International

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“…The estimates of global crop residue production were based on the production of different crops and on research information on the straw/grain ratios of different crops (Supplementary Data 7) 20 . The THg concentrations of corn and wheat residues were obtained from Rothenberg et al and Wang et al 49,50 . THg measurements for other crop residues are very limited.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rice life cycle-based global mercury biotransport and human methylmercury exposure

et al. 2019

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Protecting the environment and enhancing food security are among the world’s greatest challenges. Fish consumption is widely considered to be the single significant dietary source of methylmercury. Nevertheless, by synthesizing data from the past six decades and using a variety of models, we find that rice could be a significant global dietary source of human methylmercury exposure, especially in South and Southeast Asia. In 2013, globalization caused 9.9% of human methylmercury exposure via the international rice trade and significantly aggravated rice-derived exposure in Africa (62%), Central Asia (98%) and Europe (42%). In 2016, 180 metric tons of mercury were generated in rice plants, 14-fold greater than that exported from oceans via global fisheries. We suggest that future research should consider both the joint ingestion of rice with fish and the food trade in methylmercury exposure assessments, and anthropogenic biovectors such as crops should be considered in the global mercury cycle.

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“…A previous study showed that Hg concentration in wheat grain was low, because most of the Hg taken up from soils accumulates in the roots. 43 …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Traditional Tibetan Medicine Induced High Methylmercury Exposure Level and Environmental Mercury Burden in Tibet, China

Liu

Baumann

et al. 2018

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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Highly elevated concentrations of total mercury (THg) and methylmercury (MeHg) were found in the municipal sewage in Tibet. Material flow analysis supports the hypothesis that these elevated concentrations are related to regular ingestion of Hg-containing Traditional Tibetan Medicine (TTM). In Tibet in 2015, a total of 3,600 kg of THg was released from human body into the terrestrial environment as a result of TTM ingestion, amounting to 45% of the total THg release into the terrestrial environment in Tibet, hence substantially enhancing the environmental Hg burden. Regular ingestion of TTM leads to chronic exposure of Tibetans to inorganic Hg (IHg) and MeHg, which is 34 to 3,000-fold and 0 to 12-fold higher than from any other known dietary sources, respectively. Application of a human physiology model demonstrated that ingestion of TTM can induce high blood IHg and MeHg levels in the human body. Moreover, 180 days would be required for the MeHg to be cleared out of the human body and return to the initial concentration i.e. prior to the ingestion of 1 TTM pill. Our analysis suggests that high Hg level contained in TTM could be harmful to human health and elevate the environmental Hg burden in Tibet.

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Accumulation, transfer, and potential sources of mercury in the soil-wheat system under field conditions over the Loess Plateau, northwest China

Cited by 54 publications

References 40 publications

Impacts of farmed fish consumption and food trade on methylmercury exposure in China

Impacts of farmed fish consumption and food trade on methylmercury exposure in China

Rice life cycle-based global mercury biotransport and human methylmercury exposure

Traditional Tibetan Medicine Induced High Methylmercury Exposure Level and Environmental Mercury Burden in Tibet, China

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