Heavy metals in bamboo shoots from Southeastern China and risk assessment.

Bamboo shoot is an indispensable vegetable in Southeastern China, so a survey of heavy metals in bamboo shoots is a relevant topic of interest. The present study sought to analyse the content of seven heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Mn, Pb and Zn) in six bamboo shoot species from Southeastern China. Percentages of 3.8% (Cd) and 8.9% (Pb) of the samples exceeded the maximum limits as established by the Chinese legislation. Further health risk assessment exhibited that the Cd intake contribution of these samples could not be negligible. The hazard index (HI) at average exposure was less than one. The average HI values in moso bamboo shoot were significantly higher than those of other bamboo shoot species. Overall, the results indicated that the intake of bamboo shoots is safe for consumers in Southeastern China.

Risk assessment and prediction for toxic heavy metals in chestnut and growth soil from China.

BACKGROUND: Toxic heavy metals (THMs) cause severe environmental hazards and threaten human health through various consumption of food stuff. However, little is known of THMs in chestnuts. In this study, the risk assessment and prediction of THMs [lead (Pb), arsenic (As), chromium (Cr), cadmium (Cd) and mercury (Hg)] in chestnuts and growth soils from China were investigated. RESULTS: The main detected THMs in chestnuts and growth soils were As and Cd. The total pollution levels of the five THMs (Nemerow pollution indexes, NPIs) were 0.062 and 1.06, respectively. The dietary risks for children were higher than those of adults, especially short-term non-carcinogenic risk. The main combined risks from the relationships between THMs were Pb-Cr (r = 0.85, P < 0.01) in chestnuts and Pb-As (r = 0.59, P < 0.01) in growth soils. The risk source was found to be the uptake effect of THMs from soil to chestnut, with the highest bioaccumulation factors (BCFs) of Cd (0.254). Several comprehensive risk models were established with the highest coefficient of determination (R2 ) of 0.79. In addition, the main contribution rates of different soil parameters to comprehensive risk of THMs uptake were 49.8% (Cd), 23.4% (pH), 13.8% (Cr) and 13.0% (organic carbon). CONCLUSION: The total pollution levels of THMs fell outside of the safety domain in growth soils. Furthermore, more attention needs to be paid to Cd pollution owing to its low environment background value and high accumulation ability. Three main soil parameters (Cr content, pH, organic carbon) played important roles in the formations and accumulations of THMs in chestnuts. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry.

Distribution, relationship, and risk assessment of toxic heavy metals in walnuts and growth soil.

Walnut is one of the most popular nuts worldwide and contains various mineral nutrients. Little is known, however, about the relationship between toxic heavy metals in walnuts and growth soil. In this study, we investigated the distribution, relationship, and risk assessment of five toxic heavy metals-lead (Pb), arsenic (As), chromium (Cr), cadmium (Cd), and mercury (Hg)-in walnuts and growth soil in the main production areas of China. The results showed that the main heavy metal pollution in walnut and soil was Pb and Cd. Regionally, positive relationships existed between heavy metals and the pH and organic matter of soil. In addition, we observed a notable uptake effect between walnut and growth soil. In this study, we found a significant correlation (r = 0.786, P < 0.05) between the bioconcentration factors and the longitude of the sampling areas. The risks (total hazard quotients) of five heavy metals toward children and adults by dietary walnut consumption were 46.8 and 56.2%, respectively. The ability to identify toxic heavy metal pollution in walnuts and growth soil could be helpful to screen suitable planting sites to prevent and control heavy metal pollution and improve the quality and safety of walnut.

Toxic and essential elements in five tree nuts from Hangzhou market, China.

In this study, a total of 35 tree nut samples of walnut, pecan, pine seed, hickory nut and torreya were obtained from 5 farm product markets in Hangzhou, China, and investigated for essential (Cr, Mn, Fe, Mo, Cu, Zn, Se and Sr) and toxic (Al, As, Cd and Pb) elements by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectroscopy. Mean elemental concentrations of different tree nuts were in the following ranges: Cr 0.26-0.78 mg kg-1, Mn 42.1-174 mg kg-1, Fe 33.7-43.9 mg kg-1, Mo 0.11-0.48 mg kg-1, Cu 10.3-17.6 mg kg-1, Zn 21.6-56.1 mg kg-1, Se 0.015-0.051 mg kg-1, Al 1.44-37.6 mg kg-1, As 0.0062-0.047 mg kg-1, Cd 0.016-0.18 mg kg-1 and Pb 0.0069-0.029 mg kg-1. The estimated provisional tolerable daily intake of Al, As, Cd and Pb was much lower than the provisional tolerable daily intake.

Pesticides in persimmons, jujubes and soil from China: Residue levels, risk assessment and relationship between fruits and soils.

Extreme and uncontrolled usage of pesticides produces a number of problems for vegetation and human health. In this study, the existence of organophosphates (OPs), organochlorines (OCs), pyrethroids (PYs) and fungicides (FUs) were investigated in persimmons/jujubes and their planted soils, which were collected from China. One OP (dimethoate), three OCs (DDT, quintozene and aldrin), six PYs (bifenthrin, fenpropathrin, cyhalothrin, cypermethrin, fenvalerate and deltamethrin) and two FUs (triadimefon and buprofezin) were found in 36.4% of persimmons and 70.8% of jujubes, with concentrations from 1.0 µg/kg to 2945.0 µg/kg. The most frequently detected pesticides in the two fruits were fenpropathrin in persimmons and cypermethrin in jujubes, with the detection frequencies of 30.0% and 22.7%, respectively. The residues of 4.5% (persimmon) and 25.0% (jujube) of samples were higher than the maximum residue limits (MRLs) of China. Compared with the fruits, more types of pesticides and higher residues were observed in their planted soils. The most frequently detected pesticides were HCH in persimmon soil and DDT in jujube soil, with the detection frequencies of 10.9% and 12.7%, respectively. For the tested samples, 39.1% of fruit samples and 63.0% of soil samples with multiple residues (containing more than two pesticides) were noted, even up to 8 residues in fruits and 14 residues in soils. Except for cyhalothrin, the other short-term risks for the tested pesticides in the fruits were below 10%, and the highest long-term risk was 14.13% for aldrin and dieldrin. There was no significant health risk for consumers via consumption of the two fruits.

Residue levels and risk assessment of pesticides in nuts of China.

The pesticide residue levels of three nuts (chestnut, walnut, pinenut) collected from seven main producing areas of China were investigated. Twenty-nine pesticides, including organophosphates (OPs), organochlorines (OCs), pyrethroids (PYs) and two fungicides (triadimefon and buprofezin) were analyzed by gas chromatography (GC). Four OPs (acephate, dimethoate, chlorpyrifos and parathion-methyl) were found in 11.4% samples, with the concentrations of 19.0 µg kg(-1) to 74.0 µg kg(-1). Six OCs (DDT, HCH, endosulfan, quintozene, aldrin and dieldrin) were found in 18.2% samples, with the concentrations of 2.0 µg kg(-1) to 65.7 µg kg(-1). Among OCs, p,p-DDE and α-HCH were the dominant isomer for DDT and HCH. Five PYs (fenpropathrin, fenvalerate, cypermethrin, bifenthrin and cyhalothrin) were found in 15.9% samples, with the concentrations of 2.5 µg kg(-1) to 433.0 µg kg(-1). Fenpropathrin was the most frequently detected pesticide. In addition, triadimefon and buprofezin were detected only in two samples. For the tested nuts, 25.0% samples with multiple residues (containing more than two pesticides) were noted, even up to 9.1% samples with five pesticide residues. The residue of 15.9% samples was higher than the maximum residue limits (MRLs) of China. The short-term risks for the tested nuts were below 1.2%, and the highest long-term risk was 12.58%. The cumulative risk (cHI) for the tested pesticides were 8.43% (OPs), 0.42% (OCs), 12.82% (PYs) and 0.15% (fungicides), respectively. The total cHI was 21.82%. There was no significant health risk for consumers via nuts consumption.

Influence of different formulations on chlorpyrifos behavior and risk assessment in bamboo forest of China.

The effects of two formulations (emulsifiable concentrate (EC) and granule (G)) on the distribution, degradation, sorption, and residue risk of chlorpyrifos (CHP) were investigated in two producing areas of bamboo shoot. The results showed that CHP was mainly distributed in the topsoil (0-5 cm, P < 0.05), with the proportion of CHP in the total quantity ranging from 76.0 to 100.0 % (G) and 12.0 to 98.1 % (EC), respectively. The degradation of CHP-EC in soils (half-life 27.7-36.4 days) was faster than that of CHP-G in soils (half life above 120-150 days). The main metabolite of CHP, 3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinol (TCP), was found in soil samples. CHP showed good sorption ability in the two tested soils, with the sorption coefficient (KF) of 43.76 and 94.43 mg/kg. The terminal residues of CHP in bamboo shoots were in the range of 15.2-75.6 (G) and 10.4-35.7 µg/kg (EC), respectively. The soil type had a notable effect on the CHP behaviors in soil (P < 0.05, especially for CHP-G), but it did not affect the metabolite of CHP. Although some positive bamboo shoot samples (CHP residue exceeding maximum residue limits) were found, the hazard quotients did not exceed 7 %, which meant there was a negligible risk associated with the exposure to CHP via the consumption of bamboo shoots.