Heavy metal contamination and health risk assessment for children near a large Cu-smelter in central China

Abstract

Nonferrous metallurgy is causing significant concerns due to its emissions of heavy metals into environment, degrading environmental quality, and consequently posing high risks to human health. In this study, the concentration levels of Cadmium (Cd), Copper (Cu), Lead (Pb), and Arsenic (As) were investigated in soil, crop, well water, and fish samples collected around the Daye Copper Smelter in Hubei province, China, and the potential health risks were assessed for local children. The results showed that soils near the smelter were heavily polluted by Cd, Cu, Pb, and As, with the mean concentrations of 4.87, 195.26, 92.65, and 35.84 mg/kg, respectively, which were significantly higher than the values of soil Cd (0.18 mg/kg), Cu (32.84 mg/kg), Pb (28.46 mg/kg), and As (13.65 mg/kg) in the reference area (p < 0.001). The concentrations of Cd and As in vegetable samples collected from smelter-affected area exceeded the maximum permissible level (MPL) for food in China by 82% and 39%, respectively. The concentrations of Cd and Pb in rice grain harvested from smelter-affected area were 9.35 and 1.35 times higher than the corresponding MPL, respectively. The concentrations of Cd, As, and Cu in fish muscle from smelter-affected area exceeded the national MPL by 72%, 41%, and 24% of analyzed samples, respectively. The concentrations of Cd (p < 0.05) and As (p < 0.01) in well water were significantly higher in the smelter-affected area than those in the reference area, respectively. The health risks to local children in the smelter-affected area were 30.25 times higher than the acceptable level of 1, and most of the risks were resulted from Cd (46%), As (27%) and Pb (20%). The intake of crops was a major source (78%) to health risks for local children.