Exposure and health risk assessment of cadmium in rice in China

Abstract

ObjectiveTo provide reference for rational rice consumption and government safety supervision in China， the potential health risk in different populations was evaluated based on the investigation results of Cadmium （Cd） exposure from rice.MethodsCd of 6 249 rice samples was determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry （ICP-MS）， the Cd pollution level and distribution characteristic in rice were analyzed. Monte-Carlo simulations were employed to estimate the cumulative distribution function of Hazard quotients （HQ） and Cancer-risk index （CR） of Cd exposure from rice to assess the potential health risks of rice consumption.ResultsThe average Cd content in rice samples from four regions， weighted by regional yield， was 0.1661 mg/kg， 25.99% of the overall rice samples and 56.64% of the rice samples from Central China exceeded the national limit. Analysis showed that Cd exposure level from rice in Northeast China was low and there was no carcinogenic or non-carcinogenic health risk. In other regions， the probability range of non-carcinogenic health risk level of HQ>1 was 0.06%~7.12% for adults and 0.15%~11.44% for children， respectively. The probability range of carcinogenic risk level of CR>10-4 was 0.16%~72.55% for adults and 0.26%~77.93% for children， respectively. The potential health risk caused by Cd exposure from rice was highest in Central China.ConclusionThere are high health risks of Cd exposure from rice in part of China， especially in Central China. The exposure risk of Cd from rice to children was higher than that of adults. It’s suggested that more attention should be paid to Cd exposure from rice for the critical areas and children.

Keywords

• rice
• heavy metals
• cadmium
• risk assessment