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Human health risk assessment due to dietary intake of heavy metals through rice in the mining areas of Singhbhum Copper Belt, India

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Abstract

The study was intended to investigate heavy metal contamination levels in the rice grown in the vicinity of the mining areas of Singhbhum Copper Belt, India. The concentrations of the metals were below the Indian maximum allowable concentrations for food except for Pb, Ni, and Zn at some locations. Principal component analysis extracted three factors explaining 79.1% of the data variability. The extracted factors suggested that the sources of metals in the rice can be attributed to soil, irrigating water, and atmospheric dust deposition. High potential health risks of metal exposure from rice consumption were illustrated based on estimated daily intake (EDI) and target hazard quotient (THQ). The daily intakes of heavy metals for local adults were higher than the tolerable daily intakes provided by WHO in some samples for Cr, Fe, Ni, and V. Considering the geometric mean of the metals in rice samples of the study area, the hazard index (HI) for adult was above unity (3.09). Pb, Cu, and Cr were the key components contributing to potential non-carcinogenic risk. The HI varied from 2.24 to 12.7 among the locations indicating an appreciable heath risk to the consumers of the locally grown rice around the mining areas.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, for providing the necessary funding for the study under the DST-Young Scientist Scheme (Grant No. YSS/2015/001211). Also, the authors are thankful to the Director and Environment Assessment and Remediation Section (NREM), CSIR-Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research, Dhanbad, for providing the necessary laboratory facilities and other logistic supports for the study.

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  1. Natural Resources and Environmental Management Group, CSIR-Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research, Barwa Road, Dhanbad, 826015, India

    Soma Giri & Abhay Kumar Singh

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Giri, S., Singh, A.K. Human health risk assessment due to dietary intake of heavy metals through rice in the mining areas of Singhbhum Copper Belt, India. Environ Sci Pollut Res 24, 14945–14956 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-9039-9

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