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Probabilistic health risk assessment of inorganic arsenic and some heavy metals in rice produced from a typical multi-mining county, China

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Abstract

The potential impact of exposure to toxic elements in rice on human health has become a global public health issue. This study analyzed the pollution characteristics and probabilistic health risks of exposure to iAs, Pb, Cd, Cr, and Hg in rice produced in a typical multi-mining county using Monte Carlo simulation, a geographic information system, and bioavailability analysis. The results showed that the enrichment of As and Cd was prominent in rice, with mean tAs, iAs, and Cd contents of 0.34 ± 0.20, 0.15 ± 0.09, and 0.48 ± 0.50 mg·kg−1, respectively. The probability of non-carcinogenic risk via rice consumption in adults and children exceeding the threshold was 72% and 78%, respectively, and that of carcinogenic risk was as high as 100%. Among toxic elements, Cd and iAs were the main risk factors for health risks. The high-level health-risk areas mainly occurred in the north-eastern and central parts of the study area. Sensitivity analysis highlighted that the top three influential parameters for non-carcinogenic risk in adults were Content(Cd), Content(iAs), and Bioaccessibility(Cd), whereas those in children were ingestion rate of rice, Content(Cd), and Content(iAs). The Content(Cd) was the decisive factor for carcinogenic risk, with a sensitivity coefficient of 78.0% in adults and 64.7% in children. Considering the high risk of ingestion of local rice in this area, it is imperative to place strict supervision and take control measures.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are extremely thankful to the anonymous reviewers that work in this paper.

Availability of data and material

The data supporting the findings of this study are available from the “Risk assessment Laboratory for Environmental Factors of Agro-product Quality Safety, Ministry of Agriculture and villages (Changsha),” but restrictions apply to the availability of these data, which were used under a license for the current study, and thus, the data are not publicly available. However, data are available from the authors upon reasonable request and with permission of the “Risk assessment Laboratory for Environmental Factors of Agro-product Quality Safety, Ministry of Agriculture and villages (Changsha).”

Funding

This study was funded by the National Agricultural Product Quality and Safety Risk Assessment Project, China (GJFP201801201, GJFP2019036).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Resources and Environment, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, 410128, People’s Republic of China

    Huijuan Hao, Dabing Ge & Yulong Wen

  2. Risk assessment Laboratory for Environmental Factors of Agro-product Quality Safety, Ministry of Agriculture and Villages, Changsha, 410005, People’s Republic of China

    Yuntao Lv & Wanming Chen

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  1. Huijuan Hao
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  2. Dabing Ge
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Contributions

Lv Y. T. and Chen W. M. prepared the materials and collected data. Hao HJ performed data analysis and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. Wen Y. L. was responsible for the design and generation of figures and tables in the manuscript. Ge D. B. contributed to the study conception, design, and revision of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Dabing Ge.

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Hao, H., Ge, D., Wen, Y. et al. Probabilistic health risk assessment of inorganic arsenic and some heavy metals in rice produced from a typical multi-mining county, China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 11510–11523 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-16583-7

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