Arsenic,lead, and cadmium pollution in rice from Hunan markets and contaminated areas and their health risk assessment
湖南市场和污染区稻米中As、Pb、Cd污染及其健康风险评价

Among all rice producing areas in China,Hunan Province (south central China) is the greatest grain production province.Based on our previous study of soil contamination,the concentrations of As,Pb,Cd in rice from Hunan markets and contaminated areas,and the human health risk assessment of As,Pb,Cd to an adult through the rice consumption pathway around those areas were investigated.The results showed that the mean concentrations of As,Pb,and Cd in market rice were 0.20,0.20,and 0.28 mg·kg-1,respectively.In particular,the highest concentrations of As, Pb,and Cd were found in Hengyang's market rice samples,followed by Zhuzhou's and Xiangtan's market rice samples.In the contaminated rice,the average contents of As,Pb,and Cd were 0.24,0.21 and 0.65 mg·kg-1 respectively,higher than those in market rice.Among the contaminated rice samples,the highest concentrations of As,Pb,and Cd were found in rice from the Hengyang Shuikou - shan Pb/Zn mine area,followed by the zhuzhou Qingshui-tang smelting and Xiangtan manganese mine areas.All results from market and field rice indicated that Hengyang was the area most contaminated by As,Pb,and Cd,followed by Zhuzhou and Xiangtan.Among the studied heavy metals,cadmium is the predominant risk factor for an adult exposed through rice consumption,amounting to over 90% of the hazard index values in contaminated soils from the Zhuzhou and Xiangtan impacted areas.