Contamination and Carcinogenic Risks of Lead in Lip Cosmetics in China.

There are growing concerns about elevated lead (Pb) levels in lip cosmetics, yet in China, the largest lip cosmetic market, recent Pb contamination in lip cosmetics and associated Pb exposure remain unclear. Here, we measured Pb levels of 29 popular lip cosmetics in China and conducted the bioaccessibility-corrected carcinogenic risk assessments and sensitivity analysis regarding Pb exposure for consumers using Monte Carlo simulation. The Pb concentrations of collected samples ranged from undetectable (< 0.05 µg/kg) to 0.21 mg/kg, all of which were well below the Pb concentration limit set for cosmetics in China (10 mg/kg). The 50th percentile incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) of Pb in Chinese cosmetics (1.20E-07) was below the acceptable level (1E-06), indicating that the application of lip cosmetics and subsequent Pb exposure does not pose carcinogenic risks to consumers in most cases. The results of this study provide new insights into understanding the Pb risk in lip cosmetics.

Microplastics in feces and pellets from yellow-legged gull (Larus michahellis) in the Atlantic Islands National Park of Galicia (NW Spain).

The Atlantic Islands National Park (AINP) in Galicia (NW of Spain) are host to large colonies of yellow-legged gulls (Larus michahellis). Here, we aimed to provide baseline data for the presence of microplastics (MP) in feces and pellets regurgitated of these resident yellow-legged gulls within this unique ecosystem. MP particles found in the samples were of five shapes (fiber, fragment, foam, film and rubber) and the predominant color was blue. The main plastic polymers identified by Raman spectroscopy were polypropylene and cellulose. The average size of the MP particles in the regurgitations was larger than that in the feces. Considering the population of Larus michahellis in the AINP, our estimates suggested an annual deposition of approximately 32.2 million of MP particles from feces and regurgitated pellets in the area.

Trophic transfer of silver nanoparticles shifts metabolism in snails and reduces food safety.

Food security and sustainable development of agriculture has been a key challenge for decades. To support this, nanotechnology in the agricultural sectors increases productivity and food security, while leaving complex environmental negative impacts including pollution of the human food chains by nanoparticles. Here we model the effects of silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) in a food chain consisting of soil-grown lettuce Lactuca sativa and snail Achatina fulica. Soil-grown lettuce were exposed to sulfurized Ag-NPs via root or metallic Ag-NPs via leaves before fed to snails. We discover an important biomagnification of silver in snails sourced from plant root uptake, with trophic transfer factors of 2.0-5.9 in soft tissues. NPs shifts from original size (55-68 nm) toward much smaller size (17-26 nm) in snails. Trophic transfer of Ag-NPs reprograms the global metabolic profile by down-regulating or up-regulating metabolites for up to 0.25- or 4.20- fold, respectively, relative to the control. These metabolites control osmoregulation, phospholipid, energy, and amino acid metabolism in snails, reflecting molecular pathways of biomagnification and pontential adverse biological effects on lower trophic levels. Consumption of these Ag-NP contaminated snails causes non-carcinogenic effects on human health. Global public health risks decrease by 72% under foliar Ag-NP application in agriculture or through a reduction in the consumption of snails sourced from root application. The latter strategy is at the expense of domestic economic losses in food security of $177.3 and $58.3 million annually for countries such as Nigeria and Cameroon. Foliar Ag-NP application in nano-agriculture has lower hazard quotient risks on public health than root application to ensure global food safety, as brought forward by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Embedded Health Risk from Arsenic in Globally Traded Rice.

International food trade is fundamental to global food security but with often negative consequences in the producing country. We propose a method of quantifying flows of inorganic arsenic (iAs) and embedded increased lifetime cancer risks (EHR) at a global scale, where negative impacts are felt on the importing country. Computations were made for 153 countries. Vietnam exports the most iAs embedded in rice (796 kg/year) followed by India (788 kg/year), Thailand (485 kg/year), and the United States (323 kg/year). We show that continental China, Indonesia, and Malaysia have the highest imports of iAs (292, 174, and 123 kg/year, respectively). Bangladesh ranks highest in EHR followed by Vietnam and Cambodia (150, 141, and 111 per 100,000, respectively). Countries that depend exclusively on imported rice are importing a substantial amount of risk, as, e.g., Kiribati and Solomon Islands (57 and 53 per 100,000, respectively). We discuss the potential policy options for reducing population dietary health risks by well-balanced apportioning of rice sources. This study targets policy design solutions based on health gains, rather than on safe levels of the risk factor alone.

Relative contribution of rice and fish consumption to bioaccessibility-corrected health risks for urban residents in eastern China.

There are global concerns about dietary exposure to metal(loid)s in foods. However, little is known about the relative contribution of rice versus fish to multiple metal(loid) exposure for the general population, especially in Asia where rice and fish are major food sources. We compared relative contributions of rice and fish consumption to multi-metal(loid) exposure on the city-scale (Nanjing) and province-scale in China. The effects of ingestion rate, metal(loid) level, and bioaccessibility were examined to calculate modeled risk from Cu, Zn, total As (TAs), inorganic As (iAs), Se, Cd, Pb, and methylmercury (MeHg). Metal(loid) levels in rice and fish samples collected from Nanjing City were generally low, except iAs. Metal(loid) bioaccessibilities in fish were higher than those in rice, except Se. Calculated carcinogenic risks induced by iAs intake (indicated by increased lifetime cancer risk, ILCR) were above the acceptable level (1 0 -4) in Nanjing City (median: 3 × 10-4 for female and 4 × 10-4 for male) and nine provinces (1.4 × 10-4 to 5.9 × 10-4) in China. Rice consumption accounted for 85.0% to 99.8% of carcinogenic risk. The non-carcinogenic hazard quotients (HQ) for single metals and hazard index (HI) for multi-metal exposure were < 1 in all cases, indicating of their slight non-carcinogen health effects associated. In Guangdong and Jiangsu provinces, results showed that rice and fish intake contributed similarly to the HI (i.e., 42.6% vs 57.4% in Guangdong and 54.6% vs 45.4% in Jiangsu). Sensitivity analysis indicated that carcinogenic risk was most sensitive to rice ingestion rate and rice iAs levels, while non-carcinogenic hazard (i.e., HQ and HI) was most sensitive to ingestion rate of fish and rice, and Cu concentration in rice. Our results suggest that rice is more important than fish for human dietary metal(loid) exposure risk in China, and carcinogenic risk from iAs exposure in rice requires particular attention.

Are Chinese consumers at risk due to exposure to metals in crayfish? A bioaccessibility-adjusted probabilistic risk assessment.

Freshwater crayfish, the world's third largest crustacean species, has been reported to accumulate high levels of metals, while the current knowledge of potential risk associated with crayfish consumption lags behind that of finfish. We provide the first estimate of human health risk associated with crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) consumption in China, the world's largest producer and consumer of crayfish. We performed Monte Carlo Simulation on a standard risk model parameterized with local data on metal concentrations, bioaccessibility (φ), crayfish consumption rate, and consumer body mass. Bioaccessibility of metals in crayfish was found to be variable (68-95%) and metal-specific, suggesting a potential influence of metal bioaccessibility on effective metal intake. However, sensitivity analysis suggested risk of metals via crayfish consumption was predominantly explained by consumption rate (explaining >92% of total risk estimate variability), rather than metals concentration, bioaccessibility, or body mass. Mean metal concentrations (As, Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, Se and Zn) in surveyed crayfish samples from 12 provinces in China conformed to national safety standards. However, risk calculation of φ-modified hazard quotient (HQ) and hazard index (HI) suggested that crayfish metals may pose a health risk for very high rate consumers, with a HI of over 24 for the highest rate consumers. Additionally, the φ-modified increased lifetime risk (ILTR) for carcinogenic effects due to the presence of As was above the acceptable level (10(-5)) for both the median (ILTR=2.5×10(-5)) and 90th percentile (ILTR=1.8×10(-4)), highlighting the relatively high risk of As in crayfish. Our results suggest a need to consider crayfish when assessing human dietary exposure to metals and associated health risks, especially for high crayfish-consuming populations, such as in China, USA and Sweden.

Carcinogenic potential of soils contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Xiamen metropolis, China.

Xiamen is one of China's most rapidly developing metropolises. The objectives of the present study were: (1) to establish the levels and spatial distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in soil across the Xiamen metropolis, (2) to evaluate the extent to which PAH concentrations were elevated in the high urbanization area (HUA) of the island and how these compared with those in the low urbanization area (LUA) of the mainland, and (3) to evaluate the PAH hazard based upon their Carcinogenic Potential (CP), defined as toxicity equivalence of ∑PAHs. Twenty two alternative relative carcinogenic potency schemes were used and compared. Results demonstrated PAH concentrations to be greatly elevated across the entire metropolis. Significantly, the most enriched compounds represented the greatest concern with respect to carcinogenicity. The CP of more than 25% of the industrial samples from the island surpassed the Canadian guidance threshold value (600 µg kg⁻¹) for an excess lifetime cancer risk (ELCR) of 1 in 10⁻6. While soil samples from the remaining land uses on the island were all below this threshold, PAH levels in soil were nonetheless elevated (enrichment factors of between 4.1 ± 1.9 and 16.3 ± 12.4 in the HUA, and between 1.3 ± 0.7 and 10.8 ± 4.4 in the LUA). Results relating to agricultural locations on the island indicated 75% of the samples in HUA and 28% of the samples in LUA to be above the USEPA guidance value for BaP (15 µg kg⁻¹). Given the exceptionally high population density on the island there is a need for further research to evaluate multiple pathway PAH exposure risks.