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Cadmium contamination of rice from various polluted areas of China and its potential risks to human health

Environmental Monitoring and Assessment volume 187, Article number: 408 (2015) Cite this article

Abstract

A total of 484 rice samples were collected from five polluted areas in China to investigate the cadmium (Cd) contamination of rice and its potential health risks. The mean Cd contents of analyzed rice samples obtained from different areas ranged from 0.149 to 0.189 mg·kg−1. Cd concentrations in more than 18 % of rice samples exceeded the maximum allowable Cd concentration, and the highest level of 41.1 % was observed in samples from Hezhang, Guizhou, which was characterized by serious Cd pollution. Target hazard quotient (THQ) values of 1.5 to 7.8 from rice intake indicated a significant non-carcinogenic health risk for humans, particularly for highly exposed consumers. Children are more at risk than adults, as indicated by the higher THQs. Moreover, carcinogenic risks of Cd from rice intake for average and high consumers in the selected areas were two to three and four to eight greater, respectively, than the threshold value recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection.

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Acknowledgments

This study was financially supported by Special Funds of the State Environmental Protection Public Welfare Industry (no. 201309049) and National Key Technology Research and Development Program of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (2013BAI12B03) and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2011JBM118, 2015JBM108). We acknowledge the students (Ming-Yu Wang, Yi-Yu Lu, and Jie Ren) of Project 150170073, which is supported by the National Training Program of Innovation and Entrepreneurship for Undergraduates, for their help in analyzing data of this study.

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    1. College of Life Sciences and Bioengineering, School of Science, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing, 100044, People’s Republic of China

      Shen Ke, Xi-Yu Cheng, Ni Zhang, Hong-Gang Hu, Qiong Yan, Ling-Ling Hou & Zhi-Nan Chen

    2. Key Laboratory of Chemical Safety and Health, National Institute of Occupational Health and Poison Control, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, 100050, People’s Republic of China

      Xin Sun

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    1. Shen Ke
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    Correspondence to Zhi-Nan Chen.

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    Shen Ke and Xi-Yu Cheng contributed equally to this work.

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    Ke, S., Cheng, XY., Zhang, N. et al. Cadmium contamination of rice from various polluted areas of China and its potential risks to human health. Environ Monit Assess 187, 408 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-015-4638-8

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    Keywords

    • Cadmium contamination
    • Rice
    • Health risk
    • Target hazard quotient
    • Excess lifetime cancer risk