Lead smelting alters wheat flour heavy metal concentrations and health risks

Abstract

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) flour consumption may be a major source of human metal intake, especially when wheat is cultivated in metal-contaminated soils. This work investigated Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn distribution in whole wheat flour, wheat flour, and wheat bran when grown in an area polluted by Pb smelting. Wheat product heavy metal concentrations were analyzed, and the (non)carcinogenic risks were assessed. Mean Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn concentrations in whole wheat flour were 0.38, 3.83, 0.48, and 29.3 mg kg-1 , respectively; those in flour were only slightly reduced. The ratios between noncarcinogenic average daily dose of whole wheat flour and wheat flour consumption ranged from 1.06 to 3.76, with Pb having the greatest values compared with other metals. For children, the average hazard quotients (HQs) of whole wheat flour consumption of Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn were 4.19, 1.06, 1.53, and 1.07; those for wheat flour consumption were 3.81, 0.68, 0.70, and 0.98, respectively. The HQs of adults were less than those of children. Overall results indicated that consumption of wheat products may lead to health concerns in the heavy metal contaminated area, yet when wheat flour rather than whole wheat flour is consumed, only the human health risk from Pb ingestion is reduced. Altering or removing human edible crops in the most contaminated areas should be considered.

Monitoring Potentially Toxic Element Pollution in Three Wheat-Grown Areas with a Long History of Industrial Activity and Assessment of Their Effect on Human Health in Central Greece

“…In similar cases as ours, concerning risk assessment via food consumption, food wheat flour associated health risk was found to be above unity in many cases, including a Pb smelting area [43]. On the other hand, in works reporting from routinely sampled food from the market, lower HI values were found [55].…”

“…Industrial activities, including metal smelting, are considered important sources of Zn, Cd, and Pb. Moreover, Pb and Zn accumulation in the agricultural soils of this area was attributed to atmospheric deposition of traffic and industrial emissions [39,43]. For PC3, strong positive associations were noticed for Pb, Zn and moderate positive association for Cd, while weak-to-moderate negative loading was noticed for "distance" from the steel factory, indicating that the steel factory emissions may have affected soil Pb, Zn and Cd.…”