Metal(loid)s Spatial Distribution, Accumulation, and Potential Health Risk Assessment in Soil-Wheat Systems near a Pb/Zn Smelter in Henan Province, Central China.

Ling Yang,Qiang Ren,Wenhao Zhan,Yanfang Pan,Runxiao Hou,Zhiqiang Jiao,Yangyang Wang,Shiji Ge,Xinling Ruan

doi:10.3390/ijerph19052527

Abstract

To understand the influence of Pb/Zn smelter on surrounding environment, 110 soil and 62 wheat grain samples (62 paired samples) were collected nearby a Pb/Zn smelter in Jiaozuo City, Henan Province, China. The content and spatial distribution of metal(loid)s in the soil-wheat system, and the potential health risk via consumption of wheat grains were determined. Results showed that the average content of Pb, Cd, As, Cu, Zn, and Ni in soil were 129.16, 4.28, 17.95, 20.43, 79.36, and 9.42 mg/kg, respectively. The content of Cd in almost all soil samples (99.1%) exceeded the national limitation of China (0.6 mg/kg). Spatial distribution analysis indicated that atmospheric deposition might be the main pollution source of Pb, Cd, As, and Zn in soil. In addition, the average content of Pb, Cd, As, Cu, Zn, and Ni in wheat grain were 0.62, 0.35, 0.10, 3.7, 35.77, and 0.15 mg/kg, respectively, with the average Pb and Cd content exceeding the national limitation of China. The average bioaccumulation factor of these metal(loid)s followed the following order: Zn (0.507) > Cu (0.239) > Cd (0.134) > Ni (0.024) > Pb (0.007) > As (0.006). Health risk assessment indicated that the average noncarcinogenic risk of children (6.78) was much higher than that of adults (2.83), and the carcinogenic risk of almost all wheat grain is higher than the acceptable range, with an average value of 2.43 × 10−2. These results indicated that humans who regularly consume these wheat grains might have a serious risk of noncarcinogenic and carcinogenic diseases.

Highlights

Introduction iationsRapid urbanization, agricultural modernization, and industrialization in the last few decades have resulted in a large amount of metal(loid)s released into the environment [1].As the primary environmental reservoir and storage bank of metal(loid)s, soil accumulates most of the released metal(loid)s and is severely contaminated in some areas [2,3]
The Pb/Zn smelter result in serious metal(loid)s contamination in more than 36 km2 of both farmland soil and wheat in the present study. These results suggested that more attention should be paid to land use planning, which can reduce their influence on agricultural production and food safety
Pb/Zn smelting results in the surrounding soil being seriously contaminated with metal(loid)s, especially for Cd

Summary

Introduction

Agricultural modernization, and industrialization in the last few decades have resulted in a large amount of metal(loid)s released into the environment [1]. As the primary environmental reservoir and storage bank of metal(loid)s, soil accumulates most of the released metal(loid)s and is severely contaminated in some areas [2,3]. Based on the national survey of China in 2014, more than 10% of the farmland was contaminated with metal(loid)s [4,5], which was more serious in other developing countries. Metal(loid)s are toxic, nondegradable, and pose a serious risk to human health through the food chain bioaccumulation, which gained great attention worldwide [6]. A main pollution source of metal(loid)s is the nonferrous smelting and processing industry (NSPI), which can discharge metal(loid)s through the wastewater, atmospheric deposition, and solid waste [7,8]. A study on the pollution status of metal(loid)s in the soil around

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