title: Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs) in rice grains and straw; risk surveillance, congener specific analysis, distribution and source apportionment from selected districts of Punjab Province, Pakistan.
abstract: The current study presents health risk surveillance by investigating the levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in rice (Oryza sativa L.) grains and rice straw. Samples were collected from four districts (Okara, Sahiwal, Lahore and Sheikhpura) of Punjab Province, Pakistan for congener specific analysis of PCBs, and to observe the spatial distribution pattern and point sources. Level of Σ30 PCB (ng g(-1)) in rice grains and rice straw ranged from 4.31 to 29.68 and 6.11-25.35, respectively. Tetra-CBs were found predominant in rice straw (49%) and grains (38%) over other PCB homologs. No significant variation (P>0.005) was observed for most of the screened PCBs congeners except, PCB-66, -77, -60, -101, -74, -138, -153 and -105 in rice grains and PCB-66 in rice straw. Reported toxicity equivalency (TEQ) values for dioxin like PCBs in rice grains were found lower than the previously published reports from Asian countries, however higher TEQ values are reported for rice straw in this study. Health was found at risk of cancer among one in million by consumption of the study area food stuffs, though no considerable carcinogenic risks to human health was found.
authors.affiliation: College of Earth and Environmental Science, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Mehvish
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mumtaz
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Mirpur University of Science and Technology (MUST), Mirpur, AJ&K, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Andleeb
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mehmood
authors.affiliation: College of Earth and Environmental Science, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Abdul
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Qadir
authors.affiliation: Department of Biosciences, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Islamabad PO: 45550, Pakistan; State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China. Electronic address: adilqau5@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Adeel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mahmood
authors.affiliation: Environment Biology and Ecotoxicology Laboratory, Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad 45320, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Riffat Naseem
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Malik
authors.affiliation: Rice Research Institute Kala Shah Kaku, 17 Km G.T. Road, Lahore, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Arshed Makhdoom
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Sabir
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China.
authors.forename: Gan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis; D012275:Oryza / Q000737:chemistry*; D010154:Pakistan; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000032:analysis*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D012989:Soil Pollutants; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls
keywords: Human health risks; PCBs; Pakistan; Rice; TEQs