title: Change of water sources reduces health risks from heavy metals via ingestion of water, soil, and rice in a riverine area, South China.
abstract: This study evaluates the effect of water source change on heavy metal concentrations in water, paddy soil, and rice, as well as the health risks to residents of three riverine communities in South China. The results show that after substituting the sources of drinking water, heavy metal levels (except for Pb at Tangjun) in drinking water were below WHO guideline values and the potential risk from drinking water may be negligible. The As (46.2-66.8%), Pb (65.7-82.6%), Cd (50.8-55.0%), and Hg (28.3-32.6%) concentrations in paddy soils in Sanhe and Lasha significantly (p<0.05) decreased with a change of irrigation water sources compared to Tangjun, without change of irrigation water source. Similarly, the Cd (39.1-81.3%) and Hg (60.0-75.0%) concentrations in rice grown at Sanhe and Lasha significantly (p<0.05) decreased compared to those at Tangjun. Consequently, replacing irrigation water source significantly (p<0.05) reduced the hazard quotient (HQ) and cancer risk for the corresponding single metal via soil ingestion and rice consumption. Despite that total non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks at Sanhe and Lasha were significantly decreased, they still exceeded the maximum acceptable limits recommended by US EPA, indicating that residents of these two communities remain at high risks of both non-cancer and cancer effects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Toxicology, School of Public Health, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning 530021, China.
authors.forename: Li'e
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Atmospheric Environment Research Center, Scientific Research Academy of Guangxi Environmental Protection, Nanning 530021, China.
authors.forename: Zhaoyu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Mo
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational Health and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning 530021, China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.affiliation: Department of Toxicology, School of Public Health, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning 530021, China.
authors.forename: Qin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Atmospheric Environment Research Center, Scientific Research Academy of Guangxi Environmental Protection, Nanning 530021, China.
authors.forename: Yanhong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Department of Toxicology, School of Public Health, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning 530021, China.
authors.forename: Shuyan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Atmospheric Environment Research Center, Scientific Research Academy of Guangxi Environmental Protection, Nanning 530021, China.
authors.forename: Yuxia
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.affiliation: Department of Toxicology, School of Public Health, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning 530021, China.
authors.forename: Guiqiang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistic, School of Public Health, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning 530021, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Qing
authors.affiliation: Atmospheric Environment Research Center, Scientific Research Academy of Guangxi Environmental Protection, Nanning 530021, China.
authors.forename: Zhiming
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational Health and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning 530021, China.
authors.forename: Xiaobo
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational Health and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning 530021, China. Electronic address: rpazz@163.com.
authors.forename: Zhiyong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Toxicology, School of Public Health, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning 530021, China. Electronic address: email_zyf@163.com.
authors.forename: Yunfeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zou
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000032:analysis*; D012275:Oryza / Q000737:chemistry; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry; D014881:Water Supply / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D019216:Metals, Heavy; D012987:Soil
keywords: Health risk reduction; Heavy metal contamination; Mining; Water–soil–rice