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Assessment of the human health risks of heavy metals in nine typical areas

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Abstract

Human health risks of five different heavy metals were assessed in nine typical areas in Asia, Europe, and Africa. The geoaccumulation index (Igeo) of arsenic (As) in Hyderabad (HB), cadmium (Cd) in Veles (VL), and lead (Pb) in Murcia (MC) were found to be 5, indicating extreme contamination. This is related to their high concentrations in soil. The concentration of As in wheat in Niger Delta (ND) and European Union (EU) areas were 3.3 and 2.55 mg/kg, which were 22 and 17 times respectively of the World Health Organization (WHO)/Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) criteria. In general, the concentrations of heavy metals in wheats were higher than those in corns, indicating that heavy metals were easier to accumulate in wheats than in corns. The human risks induced by the carcinogenic metals As and Cd were much higher than those induced by noncarcinogenic metals in different exposure ways. The human health risks of heavy metals in different exposure ways were Rw-ing > Rc-ing > Rs-ing > Rs-der > Rs-inh. The human health risks induced by wheat ingestion for adults and children accounted for 67.75–97.52% and 69.52–98.04%, respectively, of the total human health risks. The total human health risks in the VL and MC areas were 1.58 × 10−4 a−1 and 1.3 × 10−4 a−1 for adults and 1.14 × 10−4 a−1 and 9.47 × 10−5 a−1 for children, respectively, which were significantly high according to the Environmental Protection Agency and International Commission on Radiological Protection. The ranking of the total human health risks in different areas were RVL > RMC > RND > REU > RHB > RKY > RTB > RMLV > RNHM. The total human health risks of adults were higher than those of children.

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Funding

This study was funded by the National Science & Technology Project (grant number 2015BAD20B03), State Key Laboratory Program (grant number 2016ZY05), and Beijing Science & Technology Project (grant number D151100004115002).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Simulation and Regulation of the Water Cycle in the River Basin, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing, 100048, China

    Shiyu Wang & Wenyong Wu

  2. MOE Key Laboratory of Groundwater Circulation and Environmental Evolution, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing, 100083, China

    Shiyu Wang & Fei Liu

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  1. Shiyu Wang
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  2. Wenyong Wu
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Correspondence to Wenyong Wu.

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Wang, S., Wu, W. & Liu, F. Assessment of the human health risks of heavy metals in nine typical areas. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26, 12311–12323 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-04076-z

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