Heavy Metals and Arsenic in Soil and Cereal Grains and Potential Human Risk in the Central Region of Peru

Abstract

The objective of this study was to analyze the content of heavy metals and arsenic in soil and cereal grains as well as to evaluate the possible human risk in the central region of Peru. The soil samples of corn and barley grains were collected from seven agricultural zones and the concentrations of Cu, Fe, Pb, Zn and As were determined with the method of atomic absorption flame spectrophotometry. PERMANOVA showed that the effect of the type of crop and the sampling zone significantly influence the concentrations of heavy metals and As in soil and corn and barley grains (p < 0.05). PCA for heavy metals and As in soil and grain samples of the cereals studied showed that the first two main components represented 81.03% and 94.77% of the total variance, respectively. Hazard Quotient (HQ) for ingestion was the most significant. The HQ values of Pb and As in crop soils indicated that detrimental health effects are unlikely (HQ < 1). The soil hazard index (HI) values of both crops did not exceed the threshold value of 1 (HI < 1). The carcinogenic risk level (CR) of As from ingestion of corn and barley crop soils contaminated by As was higher in children than in farmers and adults. The bioconcentration factor (BCF) of As was higher in barley grains than in corn grains. The THQ of As exceeded the target value of 1 in 100% of the barley and corn sampling sites. The RC of As in grains exceeded the acceptable risk level of 10-6 in all sampling zones.

Heavy Metal Bioaccumulation in Peruvian Food and Medicinal Products

“…[33,48] Tl Gastrointestinal symptoms, hair loss, and permanent neurological damage, which can be fatal Rodenticides and pesticides [49] Ti Hepatic damage Factories that produce titanium tetrachloride [33,50] U Kidney failure, decreased bone growth, DNA damage, carcinogenesis, and mutations in animals Natural (groundwater), nuclear power plants, and industrial activities (catalysts and pigments) [51,52] Galagarza et al [53] developed a review of the chemical contaminants (including metals) contained in Peruvian plant-based food products. For the specific case of metals, the authors developed a review of six inorganic pollutants (Pb, Zn, Cu, Cd, As, and Cr) in 28 food products documented in 16 studies [54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69]. Building upon their findings, we conducted an extensive literature search of scientific publications related to metal bioaccumulation in Spanish (undergraduate and graduate theses from 50 public universities as well as peer reviewed journals and reports) considering 16 metals that are known to exert toxic impacts on humans (Hg, Al, Sb, As, Ba, Be, Cd, Cr, Sn, Ni, Ag, Pb, Se, Tl, Ti, and U because they were evaluated in the country's investigations) and bioaccumulated in food and medicinal products common to the Peruvian diet.…”

“…Galagarza et al [ 53 ] developed a review of the chemical contaminants (including metals) contained in Peruvian plant-based food products. For the specific case of metals, the authors developed a review of six inorganic pollutants (Pb, Zn, Cu, Cd, As, and Cr) in 28 food products documented in 16 studies [ 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 ]. Building upon their findings, we conducted an extensive literature search of scientific publications related to metal bioaccumulation in Spanish (undergraduate and graduate theses from 50 public universities as well as peer reviewed journals and reports) considering 16 metals that are known to exert toxic impacts on humans (Hg, Al, Sb, As, Ba, Be, Cd, Cr, Sn, Ni, Ag, Pb, Se, Tl, Ti, and U because they were evaluated in the country’s investigations) and bioaccumulated in food and medicinal products common to the Peruvian diet.…”