High levels of heavy metals in rice (Oryzasativa L.) from a typical E-waste recycling area in southeast China and its potential risk to human health

Abstract

Very few studies have investigated the heavy metal contents in rice samples from a typical E-waste recycling area. In this study, 10 heavy metals (As, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mn, Ni and Pb) in 13 polished rice and relevant hull samples, six relevant paddy soil samples were investigated. The geometric mean concentrations of Cd, Cu and Hg in soil samples were 1.19, 9.98 and 0.32 lg g À1 , respectively, which were 4.0, 2.0 and 1.1-folds of the maximum allowable concentration (MAC) (0.30, 50.00, 0.30 lg g À1 , respectively) for Chinese agricultural soils. The analyzed metal concentrations were significantly different between rice and relevant hull except for As, Cd and Hg (p < 0.05). All metal concentrations, except for Co, in rice hull were higher than those in polished rice. The geometric mean of Pb in polished rice reached 0.69 lg g À1 , which was 3.5-folds higher than the MAC (0.20 lg g À1 ) by the safety criteria for milled rice. Cd contents in 31% of the rice samples exceeded the national MAC (0.20 lg g À1 ), and the arithmetic mean also slightly exceeded national MAC. In addition, Cd and Pb contents in local rice were much higher than commercial rice samples examined in this work and previous studies. Comparing the tolerable daily intakes given by FAO/WHO with the mean estimated daily intakes; Pb daily intake through rice consumption in this area was 3.7 lg day À1 kg À1 body weight (bw), which already exceeded the FAO tolerable daily intake, and the Cd daily intake (0.7 lg day À1 kg À1 bw) through rice had already taken up 70% of the total tolerable daily intake (1 lg day À1 kg À1 bw). The daily intake of Hg and As through rice was much lower than the tolerable daily intakes, but bioaccumulation of Hg through the food chain and intake of As from other food stuff should also be of concern.

Use of scalp hair as indicator of human exposure to heavy metals in an electronic waste recycling area

“…In addition, TZ, NB and SX are all situated close to the coast and should share similar diet; with a significant contribution of seafood. Fu et al (2008) found that local rice grown around e-waste areas in Taizhou had elevated levels of several elements compared to commercial rice in China, and calculated that contaminated Taizhou rice would alone contribute to 67% and 103% of the tolerable daily intake for Cd and Pb, respectively.…”

“…In these countries, rudimentary processes such as open burning and acid stripping, which are common practices to recover valuable compounds in e-waste, often result in the release of high levels of organic pollutants such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and furans (PCDD/Fs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), and toxic heavy metals such as Pb, Cd, Cr, and Cu (Basel Action Network, 2002;Deng et al, 2006;Gullett et al, 2007;Leung et al, 2007;Li et al, 2007). Besides obvious health implications for the dismantling workers, the pollutants can also contaminate the surrounding environment and further be transported to other areas adjacent to the recycling centers, such as rice fields (Fu et al, 2008), soils (Leung et al, 2006), and rivers and sediment (Wong et al, 2007b). Studies on the potential occupational and environmental exposures and subsequent human health implications of these recycling activities are still inadequate and therefore important.…”

Characterization of soil heavy metal pools in paddy fields in Taiwan: chemical extraction and solid-solution partitioning

“…Solid-solution partitioning models 1 Background, aim, and scope Metal contents in soils in and around industrialized areas throughout the world have increased, and metals like Cd, Pb, Ni, Zn, Cr, and Cu have reached levels at which they pose risks for human health and the ecosystem (Dudka and Miller 1999). Human beings are exposed to heavy metals by, among other things, consumption of food grown on polluted soils (Fu et al 2008;Franz et al 2008), and consumption of rice is a major source of the total daily Cd intake in Asia (Watanabe et al 2000;Tsukahara et al 2002). In Taiwan, emission from industry and the use of untreated waste water from cities has caused widespread pollution of paddy fields with metals across the western plains (Chen 1991;Lu et al 2007).…”

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and organochlorine pesticides in rice hull from a typical e-waste recycling area in southeast China: temporal trend, source, and exposure assessment

“…The illegal and unsafe e-waste dismantling activities have induced serious environmental and health problems in surrounding areas. Abundant contaminants, for example, polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzo-furans (PCDD/Fs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), and heavy metals, were released accompanying with the unregulated dismantling activities (Ma et al 2009;Liu et al 2008b;Fu et al 2008Fu et al , 2012.…”