[Characteristics and Health Risk Assessment of Cadmium, Lead, and Arsenic Accumulation in Leafy Vegetables Planted in a Greenhouse].

In recent years, dust pollution has occurred frequently in spring and haze or fog in autumn and winter. The inhalable particulate matters in the atmosphere, especially PM2.5, loaded in heavy metals such as cadmium, lead, and arsenic, are easily taken up by leafy vegetables and accumulate in the edible parts. It is not clear whether the accumulation of heavy metals in the edible parts of leafy vegetables in greenhouses is also affected by atmospheric deposition. Therefore, a field experiment was conducted to explore characteristics and health risk assessment of cadmium, lead, and arsenic accumulation in leafy vegetables planted in a greenhouse using six types of common leafy vegetables (spinach, leaf lettuce, lettuce, pakchoi, Chrysanthemum coronarium, and fennel) in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. The results showed that C. coronarium, pakchoi, and spinach are the leafy vegetables with a low accumulation of Cd, Pb, and As, respectively. Fennel is the leafy vegetable with a low accumulation of Cd and Pb. In the greenhouse, Pb concentrations in PM2.5 were 42.6 and 8.4 times of Cd and As, respectively. Moreover, PM2.5-Pb contributed on average 36.5% to the edible parts of six kinds of leafy vegetables, which indicated that the Cd, Pb, and As accumulated in leafy vegetables were mainly derived from the soil. Meanwhile, the concentrations of Cd, Pb, and As in the edible parts of vegetables did not exceed the safety limitations of three heavy metals (GB 2762-2017), and Pb accumulation in leafy vegetables does not pose a health risk to humans. However, Cd in the leafy vegetables could threaten the health of adults and children, except for the intake of fennel. Conversely, As in the C. coronarium could threaten the health of adults and children.

[Characteristics of Cd, As, and Pb in Soil and Wheat Grains and Health Risk Assessment of Grain-Cd/As/Pb on the Field Scale].

In recent years, heavy metal pollution in farmlands has become increasingly serious because of human activities such as metal smelting, sewage irrigation, and road traffic in China. A field survey was conducted to investigate characteristics of Cd, As, and Pb in soil and wheat grains and assess the health risk of grain-Cd/As/Pb to humans on the fields scale. The farmland was influenced by smelter and sewage irrigation in the attitude and by road traffic in the horizon. The results showed that in farmland soil with moderate pollution levels, Cd, As, and Pb concentrations in soil samples all exceeded the risk screening values of farmland soil (GB 15618-2018), and the exceeding rates were 100%, 100%, and 36.7% respectively; the exceeding rates of Cd and Pb concentrations in wheat grains were 76.7% and 13.3%, respectively (GB 2762-2017). Distance from smelter, river of sewage irrigation, and road had no significant effect on Cd, As, and Pb concentrations in soil but had a significant effect on Cd and As concentrations in wheat grains, with the median Cd and As concentrations of the closest group being 14.9% and 41.8%, respectively, higher than the highest group (P<0.05). The Pb concentrations in soil and wheat grains were influenced by road traffic; the median Pb concentrations of the closest group were 78.9% and 471%, respectively, higher than the highest group (P<0.05). Cd and As in wheat grains have carcinogenic risks (Ri>1×10-4), RCd > RAs, Rchildren > Radult, while Pb poses no health risks in this farmland.

[Survey and assessment of heavy metals in soils and herbal medicines from Chinese herbal medicine cultivated regions].

Concentrations of As, Hg, Pb, Cd in soils and herbal medicine samples from cultivated regions of Anguo City in Hebei Province were analyzed and assessed, and the bioconcentration factors of different herbal medicines were studied and discussed as well. The results showed that the average contents of As, Hg, Pb, Cd in soils from herbal medicine cultivated regions were 12.9, 0.036, 15.6, 0.118 mg x kg(-1), respectively. Concentrations of heavy metals in soils were lower than class II of the soil environmental quality standard. When local soil background values of heavy metals were used as assessment standard, among the 16 cultivated regions the percentage of As, Hg, Ph, Cd belonging to lightly pollution class were 18.75%, 43.75%, 0%, 100%, respectively based on the single pollution index. And the Nemerow index results were between 1 and 2, which suggested the soils were at slight pollution level. However, when quality standard class II was used, both the single pollution index and Nemerow index did not exceed 0.7, which means that soils investigated were generally safe for cultivation of Chinese herbal medicines. The assessment of heavy metals in herbal medicines showed that the pollution indices of most herbal samples (< 95%) were lower then 1. Cd bioconcentration factors of Aster tataricus L. and Anemarrhena asphodeloides Bunge, Hg bioconcentration factors of Angelica dahurica (Fisch. ex Hoffm.) Benth. et Hook. f. and Glehnia littoralis F. Schmidt ex Miq. were above 1. Therefore, the accumulation characteristic of heavy metals in Chinese herbal medicines should be fully concerned when GAP base soil quality assessment was taken.

[Survey of arsenic concentrations in Chinese herbal medicines (CHMs) and preliminary risk assessment of As in CHMs on human health].

Characteristics and concentrations of As in Chinese Herbal Medicines (CHMs) from Hebei province (including samples collected from fields and from medicine markets) were investigated, and the ADI (allowable daily intake) standard value from FAO/WHO was used for preliminary assessment of As risk on human health. The results showed that the average of As concentrations in different roots which were used as medicines, ranged from 0.14 mg/kg to 0.54 mg/kg,while for shoots which were used as medicines, average value of As concentrations in Dendranthema morifolium was 1.42 mg/kg, and the range in other species was from 0.09 mg/kg to 0.27 mg/kg. Based on Green Standards of Medicinal Plants and Preparations for Foreign Trade and Economy (2.0 mg/kg), the percentage of samples with As concentrations exceeding standard was 3.27% (n = 153) in roots and 9.09% (n = 44) in shoots,and 4.57% (n = 197) in total CHMs samples. As concentrations in CHMs from fields ranged from 0.03 mg/kg to 0.73 mg/kg,which were all lower than 2.0 mg/kg. However, As concentrations in CHMs from markets ranged from 0.05 mg/kg to 7.05 mg/kg, and the concentrations of As in 6.36% of samples exceeded the limited standard. Arsenic concentrations in samples from markets were significantly higher than those from fields (p < 0.05). As concentrations in Compositae were distributed widely from 0.08 mg/kg to 7.05 mg/kg,and the average at 0.87 mg/kg,while the average of As concentrations in other six families were between 0.21 mg/kg and 0.41 mg/kg, and As levels in 75% of samples for each family were below 0.5 mg/kg. Compared to Compositae samples, the CHMs from other families have higher security. ADI regulated by FAO/WHO was used to assess As risk in CHMs on human health in this study as well. As daily intake through CHMs from markets varied from 0.90 microg/d to 19.7 microg/d, and percentages of the daily intake of As in CHMs to ADI were in the range of 0.70% to 15.4%, which indicated that As in CHMs from markets had a potential risk on human health after intake.