Cadmium exposure via diet and its implication on the derivation of health-based soil screening values in China

Abstract

The cadmium (Cd) intake rates via diet of adults from different regions in China were between 0.160 and 0.557 μg/(kg BW·day), which were less than the provisional tolerable monthly intake (0.833 μg/(kg BW·day)) issued by Food and Agriculture Organization/World Health Organization in 2010, but higher than the one (0.365 μg/(kg BW·day)) issued by the European Food Safety Authority in 2011, to protect children, vegetarians and people living in heavily contaminated regions, and the intake rate of children (1.007 μg/(kg BW·day)) at the national scale was higher than the values recommended by the above institutes and those of adults. Vegetables were the critical contributors, followed by rice, flour, meats and aquatic products. Cd concentration in vegetable was the most sensitive factor in calculating the intake rate, followed by its contents in rice and aquatic products, and the intake rate of flour, indicating that more attention should be given to these parameters in future total diet surveys. When dietary exposure was incorporated, the derived national screening value of Cd under commercial scenario was reduced from 825 to 458 mg/kg, while the values of the north, south, Beijing and Shanghai were reduced to 627, 365, 693 and 489 mg/kg, respectively, indicating that the hazard would be underestimated if dietary exposure was not taken into account, especially for the south. The great variance between the screening values was due to the varied Cd intake rates, which indicated that deriving a screening value for each specific area based on its corresponding exposure characteristics was more appropriate. The national screening level for the residential scenario derived theoretically based on the dietary exposure characteristics of children was a negative value, meaning that the dietary intake rate was above the tolerable value. The method used in the United Kingdom to derive soil guideline values when non-soil exposure accounted for more than half of the maximum tolerable daily intake dose may be an appropriate estimate, but the exact ratio assigned to soil exposure should be assessed comprehensively based on a more sophisticated dietary exposure survey and the corresponding economic implications.

Bioaccumulation and photosynthetic activity response of sweet sorghum seedling (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) to cadmium stress

“…Because of its high rate of soil-to-plant transfer, Cd can be easily acquired by plants, leading to inhibition of the growth and productivity of crops. Cd is efficiently retained by kidney and liver in the human body and it results in health issues after entering food chain (Satarug et al 2010, Yuan et al 2014, Zhong et al 2015. Therefore, it is an urgent and necessary need to remediate the Cd contaminated agricultural soils for minimizing environmental impacts and ensure the safety of food.…”

A Study on the Preference for the Defensive Attribute under Environmental Risk in China

“…Once heavy metal pollution exceeds the drinking water quality standard, drinking water safety, and health outcomes of residents may be affected. Take the heavy metal pollutant cadmium as an example, it is usually discharged into the environment through wastewater, and then enters the food by irrigation [26]. The hygienic standard for drinking water in China stipulates that the cadmium shall not exceed 0.005mg/L (GB 5749-2006, China).…”

A cross-sectional study of urinary cadmium concentrations in relation to dietary intakes in Uruguayan school children

“…This finding was consistent between the two analytical approaches we employed. Cereals, as well as vegetables have been shown to contain elevated amounts of Cd (CDC, 2009;Zhong et al, 2015), although, for any given population group the greatest impact on dietary exposure to Cd will come from the foods most commonly consumed-in South-East Asia that might be rice, in other populations it could be grains, vegetables or starchy tubers (EFSA, 2012). Few other studies have ascertained the relationship between diet and biomarkers of Cd exposure in chidlren.…”

“…Diet is the main source of Cd exposure in the general non-smoking population (EFSA, 2009;Satarug et al, 2017). Elevated Cd concentrations have been found in cereals, particularly rice, as well as leafy green vegetables and root vegetables (CDC, 2009;Kippler et al, 2010;Zhong et al, 2015); and the consumption of diets rich in cereals and vegetables is associated with higher intake of Cd (Fagerstedt et al, 2015;Krajcovicová-Kudládková et al, 2006). Seafood, including crustaceans and mollusks, may contain high Cd concentrations (Mendil et al, 2010;Olmedo et al, 2013;Storelli et al, 2012).…”