Risk Assessment about Heavy Metals Contamination in Agricultural Products at Abandoned Mine Area

Abstract

BACKGROUND: This study was to carry out risk assessment of contamination of cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), and inorganic arsenic (I-As) in agricultural products of 25 crops from the abandoned mine areas. The 36 typical investigation sites located in Gyeongbuk provincial area were selected by considering the heavy metal levels, that had been known that the amount of the heavy metals exceeded the contamination level based on the previous survey. METHODS AND RESULTS: Cadmium, lead, and total arsenic (T-As) concentrations were determined using microwave device and ICP-MS. Inorganic arsenic was determined by HPLC-ICP-MS. The limits of quantification for heavy metals were 0.59 μg/kg for Cd, 0.42 μg/kg for Pb, 0.55 μg/kg for T-As, and sum of As (Ⅲ) (1.74 μg/kg) and As (Ⅴ) (2.25 μg/kg) for I-As, respectively. The contents of Cd, Pb, and I-As (only rice) were N.D.-0.958 mg/kg, N.D.-0.227 mg/kg, and 0.082 mg/kg, respectively, in the agricultural products. For risk assessment, dietary exposures of heavy metals through usual intake were 5.20×10-4-7.15×10 0 μg/day for Cd, 7.00×10-5-7.75×10-1 μg/day for Pb, and 1.17×10 1 μg/day for I-As, taking 0.01-14.37%, 0.01-2.05%, and 15.16% as risk indices, respectively. CONCLUSION: It requires to consider the critical levels of heavy metals in agricultural products due to unexpectedly high levels in a few places, while concentrations of heavy metals in the samples were relatively low in most areas.

Association between levels of exposure to heavy metals and renal function indicators of residents in environmentally vulnerable areas

“…The mining and refining processes discharge large quantities of heavy metals into the environment. Specifically, mine drainage from abandoned metal mines contains large quantities of highly toxic heavy metals such as Lead (Pb), Cadmium (Cd), and Arsenic (As), which can contaminate the surrounding soil and lead to high heavy metal contents in farmland crops 6 , 7 . Consuming contaminated crops can cause chronic disorders in humans and animals owing to the accumulation of heavy metals in the body 7 , 8 .…”

Adsorption Effect of Heavy Metals (Zn, Ni, Cd, Cu) in Aqueous Solution Using Bottom Ash of Biomass Power Plant

“…증가하는데, 일정 농도 이상의 중금속 섭취는 인체에 중독 현 상을 일으킨다 [2,3]. 따라서 중금속을 제거하는 연구가 활발하 게 진행되고 있으며, 식물, 활성탄, 바이오차 등 다양한 소재를 활용한 연구들이 진행되고 있다 [4].…”