Fish, rice, and human hair mercury concentrations and health risks in typical Hg-contaminated areas and fish-rich areas, China

Environment International

Ping Li¹  Min Chen¹  Yuhang Zhao²  Leiming Zhang²  Li Ding²  Yi Man³  Xinbin Feng⁴  Bo Wang⁴  Lin Feng⁴ 

[1] University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China;School of Public Health, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang 550025, China;School of Resource and Environment, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China;State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550081, China;

关键词: Methylmercury;    Human exposure;    Dose–response;    Hg-contaminated area;    Fish-rich area;   

DOI  :  

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Human exposure to methylmercury (MeHg) from consuming contaminated fish has been a major concern for decades. Besides, human MeHg exposure through rice consumption has been recently found to be important in some Asian countries. China is the largest country on mercury (Hg) production, consumption, and anthropogenic emission. However, the health risks of human Hg exposure are not fully understood. A total of 624 fish, 299 rice, and 994 human hair samples were collected from typical Hg-contaminated areas and major fish-rich areas to assess the health risks from human Hg exposure in China. Fish and rice samples showed relatively low Hg levels, except the rice in the Wanshan Hg mining area (WMMA). Human hair total Hg (THg) and MeHg concentrations were significantly elevated in WMMA, Zhoushan (ZS), Xiamen (XM), Qingdao (QD), and zinc smelting area (ZSA), and 85% of hair samples in WMMA, 62% in ZS, 40% in XM, 26% in QD, and 17% in ZSA had THg concentrations exceeding the limit set by the USEPA (1 μg/g). Rice consumption was the main pathway (>85%) for human MeHg exposure in the studied Hg-contaminated areas. Meanwhile, fish was the primary human MeHg exposure source (>85%) in coastal cities. Therefore, soil remediation in typical Hg-contaminated areas and scientific guidance for fish consumption in coastal provinces are urgently needed to reduce the health risks from human Hg exposure in China.

【 授权许可】

Unknown