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It is widely believed that an increasing trend in the production and consumption of vegetables has led to a dramatic rise in the use of pesticides potentially threatening the health of consumers around the world. This systematic study along with meta-analysis has mainly centered on the evaluation of the quantity of three well-known pesticides namely, Malathion (MLT), Diazinon (DZN) and Chlorpyrifos (CPF) in vegetables. In this regard, a comprehensive literature search has been performed over the last decade (January 1, 2011 to June 21, 2020) within the scientific databases including PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus. Of 1239 articles identified through the database screening, 22 plus 37 data report were retained and included in the meta-analysis phase. Additionally, the probabilistic human health risks for the consumers due to the intake of CPF, DZN and MLT from eating vegetables were estimated by the Monte Carlo Simulated (MCS) method. According to the findings, the maximum quantities of MLT, DZN and CPF in the vegetables were observed in Pakistan (222 μg/kg, 95%CI = 214.94-229.08), Thailand (245.00, 95% CI = 235.2-254.8) and South Korea (440 μg/kg, 95% CI = 437.19-442.81), while the lowest concentration levels were reported in China (1.7 μg/kg, 95% CI = 1.56-1.84), Poland (0.57, 95% CI = 0.46-0.68) and Poland (5.78 μg/kg, 95% CI = 4.40-7.12), respectively. The results of the Egger's and the Begg's tests revealed that no bias with regard to the potential publication was observed. Finally, non-carcinogenic risk assessment results demonstrated that the exposure to the studied pesticides thorough vegetables consumption could not threaten the health of consumers., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Heavy metal accumulation in agricultural products has become a major concern. Previous studies have focused on the transport of heavy metals from the soil and their accumulation in crops. However, recent studies revealed that wheat leaves, ears, and awns can also transport and accumulate heavy metals. Wheat grains can be influenced by two sources of heavy metals: soil contamination and atmospheric deposition. To comprehend the transport characteristics of heavy metals in soil, atmospheric deposition, and wheat, 37 samples each for wheat rhizosphere soil, wheat roots, stems, leaves, and grains were collected. Fifteen samples of atmospheric dry deposition and atmospheric wet deposition were collected from Linshu County (northern area), China. Based on the test data, the characteristics of heavy metals and their distribution in the study area were analyzed. Migration patterns of heavy metals in crops from different sources were investigated using Pearson correlation and redundancy analysis. Finally, a predictive model for heavy metals in wheat grains was developed using multiple linear regression analysis. Significant disparities in the distribution of heavy metals existed among wheat roots, stems, leaves, and grains. The coefficient of variation of heavy metals in atmospheric deposition was relatively high, indicating discernible spatial patterns influenced by human activities. Notably, a positive correlation was observed between the concentration of heavy metals in wheat grains and atmospheric deposition of Hg, Cd, and Pb. Conversely, Zn and Ni levels in wheat grains were significantly negatively associated with soil Zn, Ni, pH, and OM content. The contribution of heavy metal elements from different sources varied in their impact on the grain's heavy metal content. Specifically, atmospheric deposition was the primary source of Hg and Pb in wheat grains, while Cd, Ni, Cu, and Zn were predominantly derived from soil. Using a multiple linear regression model, we could accurately predict Hg, Pb, Cd, Ni, Zn, and As concentrations in crop grains. This model can facilitate quantitative evaluation of ecological risk of heavy metals accumulation in crops in the study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cigarette butts, often discarded as litter, are considered a common form of waste, containing a variety of pollutants within this hazardous residue. This study, which was designed to assess the environmental release of certain metals from cigarette butts, investigates a variety of scenarios under varying climatic conditions. Thus, in order to assess the level of metal contamination, samples of cigarette butts were collected in urban areas from seven popular brands in China, smoked artificially, and examined through graphite furnace atomic absorption (GF-AAS). The findings indicated mean concentrations of 1.77 for Cr, 2.88 for Ni, 12.93 for Cu, 24.25 for Zn, and 1.77 µg/g for Pb in the case of newly smoked butts. The emission of each of the metals increases to 8–10% when cigarette butts remain in the environment for an extended period of time. Furthermore, rainfall can accelerate metal leaching, reaching values of 18–20% compared to the controlled scenario. The worst-case scenario releases 2129.31 kg/year of metals into the environment, while the best-case scenario sees a lower release of 844.97 kg/year. The data reflect variations in metal emissions across different scenarios. There was also a strong correlation between cigarette butts in public spaces and cities. This research highlights the need to educate smokers and increase urban maintenance efficiency to reduce this litter and the metals it leaches into the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an environmental endocrine disruptor, atrazine (ATR) can produce serious health damage to humans. This study aimed to assess the exposure and health risks associated with ATR among Chinese adults by analyzing data on ATR concentrations in various environmental media across China. Literatures were retrieved from 5 databases and finally identified 65 eligible studies. The concentrations of ATR in environmental media ranged from 0 to 0.12 mg/kg. The average daily doses (ADD) of ATR for Chinese males and females were estimated at 2.58 × 10−5 mg/kg/d and 2.53 × 10−5 mg/kg/d, respectively. The ADD values did not exceed the reference dose −0.035 mg/kg/d. Sensitivity analysis revealed that body weight and ATR concentrations in various food items such as vegetables, grains, and fruits, along with factors like drinking water intake rate, were the primary influencing factors. Furthermore, the hazard index (HI) values were less than 1 and over 0.32% of cancer risk (CR) values were higher than 10−4, indicating that exposure to ATR could pose a potential risk. The HI and CR values did not exhibit statistically significant differences across genders or among various age groups. This study illustrated that exposed to ATR can pose potential risk to Chinese adults health and dietary intake (including drinking water, and food) was the major pathway by which most humans are exposed to ATR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil pollution by heavy metals can cause continuing damage to ecosystems and the human body. In this study, we collected nine fresh topsoil samples and 18 maize samples (including nine leaf samples and nine corn samples) from agricultural soils in the Baiyin mining areas. The results showed that the order of heavy metal concentrations (mg/kg) in agricultural soils was as follows: Zn (377.40) > Pb (125.06) > Cu (75.06) > Ni (28.29) > Cd (5.46) > Hg (0.37). Cd, Cu, Zn, and Pb exceeded the Chinese risk limit for agricultural soil pollution. The average the pollution load index (4.39) was greater than 3, indicating a heavy contamination level. The element that contributed the most to contamination and high ecological risk in soil was Cd. Principal component analysis (PCA) and Pearson's correlation analysis indicated that the sources of Ni, Cd, Cu, and Zn in the soil were primarily mixed, involving both industrial and agricultural activities, whereas the sources of Hg and Pb included both industrial and transportation activities. Adults and children are not likely to experience non-carcinogenic impacts from the soil in this region. Nonetheless, it was important to be aware of the elevated cancer risk presented by Cd, Pb, and especially Ni. The exceedance rates of Cd and Pb in corn were 66.67% and 33.3%, respectively. The results of this research provide data to improve soil protection, human health monitoring, and crop management in the Baiyin district. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is the most common nosocomial infection in intensive care units (ICUs) and is a common cause of morbidity and mortality in intensive care patients. Previous studies show that insufficient knowledge and compliance barriers among nurses affect pneumonia. There have been no investigations into intensive care nurses' knowledge and compliance barriers to evidence-based guidelines (EBGs) for VAP prevention in county-level hospitals in China., Aim: To explore adult ICU nurses' knowledge and compliance barriers to EBGs for preventing VAP in county-level hospitals in Hunan Province, China, examine the correlation between knowledge and compliance barriers, and analyse associated factors., Study Design: A cross-sectional electronic survey was conducted to focus on nurses' knowledge of and compliance barriers to EBGs for preventing VAP., Results: A total of 386 valid questionnaires were collected, with a response rate of 97.47% (386/396 = 97.47%). The median scores for nurses' knowledge (out of 9) and compliance barriers (out of 8) to EBGs for preventing VAP were 7 (interquartile range: 5-8) and 3 (interquartile range: 2-4), respectively. Knowledge was negatively associated with compliance barriers (r = -0.437, p < .01). The results of the multiple linear regression analysis showed that hospital level, age, nurses' attendance at VAP training and years of experience in ICUs were related to the level of knowledge. Nurses' attendance at VAP training, age and years of experience in ICUs were associated with the level of compliance barriers., Conclusions: Intensive care nurses have satisfactory knowledge of EBGs for preventing VAP, but compliance barriers can be reduced. Better knowledge helps reduce the barriers to compliance among nurses., Relevance to Clinical Practice: Nurse managers and nurse educators are suggested to examine nurses' knowledge and compliance barriers to EBGs for preventing VAP, develop personalized training plans, promote continuous education based on the latest EBGs and raise the nurse-patient ratio reasonably., (© 2024 British Association of Critical Care Nurses.)

Identifying the contamination and sources of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in road-dust sediment (RDS) and the surrounding greenspace soil of urban environments and understanding their ecological-health risks are important for pollution management and public health. The contamination characteristics, ecological and probabilistic health risks, and source apportionment of eight PTEs (Cd, Pb, Cr, Cu, Ni, As, Zn, and Hg) in the Yellow River Custom Tourist Line of Lanzhou, which is the largest open urban riverfront scenic park in China, were investigated. The results showed that all the RDS PTE mean concentrations exceeded their soil background values, whereas for the surrounding greenspace soils, the concentrations of the PTEs, except for Cr and Ni, were also higher than their local background levels. Moreover, the RDS-soil system was mainly contaminated by Cd, Zn, Pb, Cu, and Hg to varying degrees, and the integrated ecological risks of PTEs in the RDS and soil were high and considerable at most sites, respectively. The probabilistic health risk assessment results demonstrated that the non-carcinogenic hazard risk for humans was negligible, but the total carcinogenic risks should be considered. Source apportionment using a positive matrix factorization model combined with multivariate statistical analyses revealed that Cr, Ni, and As in the RDS-soil system were from natural and industrial sources, Cd, Pb, Zn, Cu came from vehicle emissions and pesticide and fertilizer applications, and Hg was from natural and industrial sources and utilization of pesticides with fertilizers. This work provides scientific evidence for urban planning and human health protection in urban environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mercury (Hg) has always been a research hot spot because of its high toxicity. This study conducted in farmland near rare earth mining area and traffic facilities, which considered multiple pollution sources innovatively. It not only analyzed Hg spatial characteristics using inverse distance weighting and self-organizing map (SOM), but also assessed its pollution risk by potential ecological risk index (Er) as well as geoaccumulation index (Igeo), and identified the pollution sources with positive matrix factorization. The results showed that there was no heavy Hg pollution in most farmland, while a few sampling sites with Hg pollution were close to highway, railway station and petrol station in Xinfeng or in the farmland of Anyuan, which were divided into the cluster with highest Hg concentration in SOM. The vehicle exhaust emission and pesticide as well as fertilizer additions significantly contributed to the local Hg pollution. Besides, there was moderate pollution and high ecological risk in Anyuan assessed by Igeo and Er, respectively. In contrast, Xinfeng had the moderate and considerable ecological risks in a larger scale. The enriched Hg might harmed not only the nearby ecological environment, but also the human health when it entered human body through food chain. The three factors that contributed to mercury concentration in this area according to positive matrix factorization were natural source, traffic source and agricultural source, respectively. This study about Hg pollution in the typical area would provide scientific evidence for the particular treatment of Hg pollution from various pollution sources like traffic source, agricultural source, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

X-linked hyper-immunoglobulin M (X-HIGM) syndrome and autosomal recessive hyper-immunoglobulin E syndrome (HIES) are rare inborn errors of immunity characterized by recurrent infections due to immune system impairment. In this study, we identified a novel hemizygous CD40 ligand (CD40L) mutation and compound heterozygous dedicator of cytokinesis-8 (DOCK8) mutations in two Han Chinese families with X-HIGM and HIES, respectively. We aimed to investigate the association between their genotypes and phenotypes. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood samples obtained from the families. Whole exome sequencing and Sanger sequencing were performed to identify and verify pathogenic variants in the two families. Clinical analyses of the probands were also performed. A novel hemizygous mutation of CD40L in exon 2 (c.257delA) was identified in the first proband, resulting in the substitution of glycine with glutamic acid at codon 86 of the protein. This leads to premature termination of translation at downstream codon 9 (p.E86Gfs*9). Sanger sequencing confirmed that the variant was inherited from the mother. The second proband carried two novel compound heterozygous mutations in DOCK8: one at exon 14 (c.1546C > G) inherited from the father, and the other at intron 41 (c.5355 + 6C > T; splicing) inherited from the mother. This study enhances our understanding of the pathogenetic mutation spectrum of CD40L and DOCK8 genes, facilitating the prenatal diagnosis of X-HIGM and HIES and enabling timely treatment of patients., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Heavy metal contamination in wheat not only endangers human health, but also causes crop quality degradation, leads to economic losses and affects social stability. Therefore, this paper proposes a Pyraformer-based model to predict the safety risk level of Chinese wheat contaminated with heavy metals. First, based on the heavy metal sampling data of wheat and the dietary consumption data of residents, a wheat risk level dataset was constructed using the risk evaluation method; a data-driven approach was used to classify the dataset into risk levels using the K-Means++ clustering algorithm; and, finally, on the constructed dataset, Pyraformer was used to predict the risk assessment indicator and, thus, the risk level. In this paper, the proposed model was compared to the constructed dataset, and for the dataset with the lowest risk level, the precision and recall of this model still reached more than 90%, which was 25.38–4.15% and 18.42–5.26% higher, respectively. The model proposed in this paper provides a technical means for hierarchical management and early warning of heavy metal contamination of wheat in China, and also provides a scientific basis for dynamic monitoring and integrated prevention of heavy metal contamination of wheat in farmland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heavy metal pollution in soil–crop systems has attracted great attention globally, caused by rapid urbanization and intensive industrialization. The research aims to investigate the environmental quality of the agricultural production area in Taizhou City, a typical economic region that is along the Yangtze River in the Southeast of China. A total of 370 sampling sites were chosen, with 370 soil, rice (Oryza sativa L.) and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) samples collected, respectively, for measuring and analyzing the status, spatial distribution and pollution level of different heavy metals. The mean values of soil Cr, Pb, Cd, As and Hg were 66.78, 32.88, 0.23, 8.16 and 0.16 mg/kg, which were lower than the risk control standard values (RCV). However, the mean values of Pb, Cd and Hg were 1.25-, 1.77- and 2-fold larger than their soil background values (SBV) due to the intensive anthropogenic activities. The average content of Cd in rice exceeded its food safety limiting values (FCV) by 0.05 mg/kg, and the average contents of Pb in rice and wheat both exceeded the relevant FSV by 0.42 and 0.186 mg/kg, respectively. In addition, the maximum As and Cr contents in rice and wheat could be 0.13, 0.46 mg/kg and 0.63, 3.5 mg/kg larger than the relative FCVs in certain areas. Most of the high-value areas of soil and crop heavy metals were mainly located in Xinghua City, Taixing City and Jiangyan District, which had a similar distribution pattern with local industries or anthropogenic activities. The heavy metal pollution in soils and crops was found to be inconsistent, as 8.94% of the arable land possessed lightly metal pollution, while 3.18% of the area of rice and 4.0% of the area of wheat suffered severe pollution, with excessive accumulation of Cr, Pb and Cd. Based on the heavy metal pollution assessment of soil–crop systems, approximately 83% of the study area possessed medium or higher environmental quality, which was preferable for agricultural production. Our results implied that the spatial distribution and pollution level of the heavy metals in soil–crop systems were significantly influenced by industrial activities, followed by agricultural sources, transportation emissions and so on. Therefore, continuous monitoring and source control of heavy metals, especially for Cr, Pb and Cd, should be conducted to ensure the regional environmental quality and food security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building structures are prone to cracking, leakage, and corrosion under complex loads and harsh marine environments, which seriously affect their durability performance. To design cementitious composites with excellent mechanical and impermeability properties, Engineered Cementitious Composites (ECCs) doped with ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene short-cut fibers (PE-ECCs) were used as the reference group. Different types (XYPEX-type from Canada, SY1000-type from China) and doses (0%, 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5%, 2.0%) of Cementitious Capillary Crystalline Waterproofing materials (CCCWs) were incorporated. The effect of CCCWs on the mechanical and impermeability properties of PE-ECCs, and the microscopic changes, were investigated to determine the best type of CCCW to use and the best amount of doping. The results showed that with increasing the CCCW dosage, the effects of both CCCWs on the mechanical and impermeability properties of PE-ECC increased and then decreased, and that the best mechanical and impermeability properties of PE-ECC were achieved when the CCCW dosing was 1.0%. The mechanical properties of the PE-ECC were more obviously improved by XYPEX-type CCCW, with a compressive strength of 53.8 MPa, flexural strength of 11.8 MPa, an ultimate tensile stress of 5.56 MPa, and an ultimate tensile strain of 7.53 MPa, which were 37.95%, 53.25%, 14.17%, and 21.65% higher than those of the reference group, respectively. The effects of the two CCCWs on impermeability were comparable. CCCW-PE-ECC(X1.0%) and CCCW-PE-ECC(S1.0%) showed the smallest permeation heights, 2.6 mm and 2.8 mm, respectively. The chloride ion diffusion coefficients of CCCW-PE-ECC(X1.0%) and CCCW-PE-ECC(S1.0%) exhibited the smallest values, 0.15 × 10−12 m2/s and 0.10 × 10−12 m2/s, respectively. Micromorphological tests showed that the particle size of the XYPEX-type CCCW was finer, and the intensity of the diffraction peaks of C-S-H and CaCO3 of PE-ECC increased after doping with two suitable doping amounts of CCCW. The pore structure was improved, the surface of the matrix was smoother, and the degree of erosion of hydration products on the fiber surface was reduced after chloride ion penetration. XYPEX-type CCCW demonstrated a more obvious improvement in the PE-ECC pore structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heavy metal pollution is one of the most pressing issues threatening food security and human health. This study assesses heavy metal (chromium, cadmium, copper, zinc, nickel, and lead) exposure via hair metal concentrations in Chengdu residents, reflecting metal intake from food consumption. From June 2020 to February 2021, a sampling survey was conducted on residents' hair (n=182) and food (n=301) in six main urban areas of Chengdu. The concentrations of heavy metals in hair and food were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, and the results showed that the residents of Chengdu City had high hair concentrations of Cd (0.17±0.03 mg kg -1 ) and Zn (293±21.3 mg kg -1 ). Gender significantly affected the hair Cr, Zn, and Ni concentrations. Based on the survey results obtained from Chengdu City residents, the habits and diet structure are assessed for the influence of six heavy metals in the hair of the residents. Adolescents' (13-18 years old) hair had significantly higher Pb concentrations than adults (19-59 years old). The concentration of Ni in hair was affected by perming and dyeing habits. For dietary exposure, cereals and meat were the main contributors to the residents' daily intake of heavy metals. The bioaccessibility of Cr, Cd, Cu, Zn, Ni, and Pb in food was 2.45-74.67%, 10.6-78.7%, 13.4-82.5%, 8.89-89.2%, 7.70-85.1%, and 15.4-86.2%, respectively. In health risk evaluation based on the bioaccessible fraction of six heavy metals, the hazard quotient of each heavy metal in food was less than 1, indicating no potential non-carcinogenic risk., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

In recent years, heavy metal contamination of soils has become a major concern in China due to the potential risks involved. To assess environmental pollution and human health risks in a typical heavy metal polluted site in Jiangxi Province, a thorough evaluation of the distribution, pollution levels, and sources of heavy metals in soils of the Yangmeijiang River watershed was conducted in this study. Positive matrix factorization and Monte Carlo simulation were used to evaluate the ecological and human health risks of heavy metals. The research findings indicate that heavy metal pollution was the most severe at the depth of 20-40 cm in soils, with local heavy metal pollution resulting from mining and sewage irrigation. The high-risk area accounted for 91.11% of the total area. However, the pollution level decreased with time due to sampling effects, rainfall, and control measures. Leaf-vegetables and rice were primarily polluted by Cd and Pb. The main four sources of heavy metals in soils were traffic emission, metal smelting, agricultural activities and natural sources, mining extraction, and electroplating industries. Heavy metals with the highest ecological risk and health risk are Cd and As, respectively. The non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks of children were 7.0 and 1.7 times higher than those of adults, respectively. Therefore, children are more likely to be influenced by heavy metals compared to adults. The results obtained by the risk assessments may contribute to the identification of specific sources of heavy metals (e.g., traffic emissions, metal smelting, mining excavation, and electroplating industries). Additionally, the environmental impacts and biotoxicity associated with various heavy metals (e.g., Cd and As) can also be reflected. These outcomes may serve as a scientific basis for the pollution monitoring and remediation in the mining-affected areas., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The subsidence pond is an important water resource for coal mining areas in China. In order to take full advantage of the subsidence pond, a floating photovoltaic cover or a pillaring photovoltaic cover were installed on the surface water of the subsidence pond in the Huainan coal field. Different photovoltaic systems (floating/pilling cover) equipped in the subsidence pond may affect the water quality; thus, assessing the metals in the subsidence pond with the solar photovoltaic system is of great importance for environment control. In this research, surface water samples were collected from three different subsidence ponds, with or without the solar photovoltaic system. The concentrations of Pb, Cr, Ni, Cu, As, Mn, and Zn in the water of the subsidence pond were determined using ICP-MS and AFS. Then, the health risk posed by the heavy metal in different subsidence pond waters via the ingestion pathway was evaluated and analyzed using the assessment model recommended by USEPA. The results indicated that the mean concentrations of Pb, Cr, Ni, Cu, As, Mn, and Zn in the water of different subsidence ponds were less than the environmental quality standards for surface water (China, Grade II). Cr showed a higher non-carcinogenic risk than the other metals, and the photovoltaic cover actually decreased the total non-carcinogenic risk in the photovoltaic subsidence pond compared with the natural subsidence pond. Non-carcinogenic risks of single and total heavy metals in the subsidence ponds with or without solar photovoltaic systems were below 1; thus, these risks in different subsidence ponds were considered to be at an acceptable level. However, the potential single carcinogenic risks of Cr, Ni, and As; and the multielement carcinogenic risks of Pb, Cr, Ni, and As exceeded the limits of 1 × 10−6 and 1 × 10−4, respectively, suggesting that these metals showed single and total potential health risks in the subsidence pond, with or without the solar photovoltaic system. Further, the subsidence pond with the photovoltaic cover showed higher total carcinogenic risks in comparison with the natural subsidence pond. Therefore, a subsidence pond with a solar photovoltaic system should be monitored periodically to ensure the water safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil pollution by heavy metals can cause continuing damage to ecosystems and the human body. In this study, we collected nine fresh topsoil samples and 18 maize samples (including nine leaf samples and nine corn samples) from agricultural soils in the Baiyin mining areas. The results showed that the order of heavy metal concentrations (mg/kg) in agricultural soils was as follows: Zn (377.40) > Pb (125.06) > Cu (75.06) > Ni (28.29) > Cd (5.46) > Hg (0.37). Cd, Cu, Zn, and Pb exceeded the Chinese risk limit for agricultural soil pollution. The average the pollution load index (4.39) was greater than 3, indicating a heavy contamination level. The element that contributed the most to contamination and high ecological risk in soil was Cd. Principal component analysis (PCA) and Pearson's correlation analysis indicated that the sources of Ni, Cd, Cu, and Zn in the soil were primarily mixed, involving both industrial and agricultural activities, whereas the sources of Hg and Pb included both industrial and transportation activities. Adults and children are not likely to experience non-carcinogenic impacts from the soil in this region. Nonetheless, it was important to be aware of the elevated cancer risk presented by Cd, Pb, and especially Ni. The exceedance rates of Cd and Pb in corn were 66.67% and 33.3%, respectively. The results of this research provide data to improve soil protection, human health monitoring, and crop management in the Baiyin district., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

The potential health risk of heavy metals (HMs) in campus dust may threaten the health of thousands of students, teachers, and their families in Wuhan, the university cluster in Central China every day. In this research, the pollution characteristics and health risk with HMs was the first time presented in campus dust from the canteen, playground, dormitory, and school gate to date. The average HMs concentration in campus dusts ranked Pb (83.5 mg kg−1) > Cu (70.2 mg kg−1) > Zn (47.2 mg kg−1) > Cr (46.0 mg kg−1) > Ni (22.7 mg kg−1) > As (15.2 mg kg−1) > Cd (3.38 mg kg−1). The HMs would more likely to accumulate in dormitory dust and canteen dust. In the downtown area, Zn, As, and Cd had been preliminarily identified from fossil fuel combustion and natural geochemical processes. Cu and Pb would source from cooking and traffic transportation. Ni and Cr would likely reflect the contributions of natural soil weathering. No significant non-carcinogenic health risks were found to students or teachers from campus dust. Their children would more likely to exposure health risks when eating in the canteen, playing on the playground, or walking around the school gate. While the incremental lifetime cancer risk values revealed respiratory intake of HMs does not pose a carcinogenic risk on the campus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bioavailable trace metals are closely related to environmental safety and human health, which might have different source characteristics from the total trace metals in soil. To identify such differences, 31 farmland soil samples were collected from a typical agricultural watershed in East China and analyzed for bioavailable trace metal sources by using chemical fractionation, linear regression, and receptor model. Results showed that the total concentrations of Pb, Cu, Zn, Cr, and Ni in the soils were 1.25–1.59 times higher than watershed background values, but they were all dominated by the residual fraction (63.39–86.36%) according to a modified Community Bureau of Reference (BCR) sequential extraction procedure. Both chemical fractionation and enrichment factors (EFs) indicated a major contribution of the natural source to the total trace metal concentrations in the soils. However, linear regressions revealed that 60.07–89.88% of the bioavailable Pb, Cu, Zn, and Ni concentrations were contributed by anthropogenic sources. Atmospheric deposition and livestock manure were identified as the two major anthropogenic sources, and their contributions were further estimated by using a multiple linear regression of absolute principal component scores (MLR-APCS) model. Together with natural contribution, atmospheric deposition could contribute 74.55–89.86% of bioavailable Pb, Cr, and Ni concentrations. Livestock manure contributed 85.54% of bioavailable Cu and 80.05% of bioavailable Zn concentrations, respectively. These results implied that the bioavailable trace metals were influenced by both anthropogenic and natural sources, but more influenced by anthropogenic sources for bioavailable Pb, Cu, Zn, and Ni in the soils. Special attention should be paid to bioavailable Pb when implementing effective pollution control strategies in this watershed. Moreover, the risk caused by bioavailable trace metal losses from soils to aquatic system should not be ignored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Trace element pollution in soil has become an increasingly common issue and potentially harms the environment and human health. In this study, the contamination levels and ecological and health risk indices of trace elements in surface soils in Bai Cheng, Xin Jiang, were investigated in order to examine if the land usage changed from pasture to agriculture has influenced the behaviours of these trace elements. Material and methods: In this study, descriptive analysis, normality test, the Tukey-HSD method and non-parametric methods were used to investigate the characteristics of trace elements. The geo-accumulation pollution and ecological risk indices were used to analyse the degree of contamination by trace elements. Correlation and principle analyses were used to identify the sources of trace elements and a health risk assessment was used to analyse human exposure to trace elements of the soil. Results and discussion: Cadmium was the main pollutant in the 0–5 cm soil layer in both agricultural and pastoral areas. Thus, it contributed most to the Geo-Accumulation Index (Igeo) and the comprehensive potential ecological risk index (RI) of the surface soils. The levels of RI for the topsoil layer of agricultural areas fell into moderate to high (II-III) ecological risk categories, and those of pastoral areas belonged to low to moderate risk categories (I-II). Both values of Igeo and RI of the surface soils in agricultural areas were higher than in pastoral areas. The carcinogenic risk of Cr through hand-to-mouth intake and the total risk of trace elements in soils for humans were higher than the safety reference level. Chromium was the greatest contributor to total carcinogenic risk. Conclusions: Trace element concentration levels in surface soils in pastoral areas were relevant to geochemical characteristics and atmospheric deposition, whereas trace element concentration levels in surface soils in agricultural areas were derived not only from geochemical characteristics but also from human activities. The change in land use from pasture to agriculture increased the trace element concentration level in surface soils. There were both ecological risks and human health implications for residents exposed to such contaminants of soils in the studied region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The consequences of malnutrition include increased risk of many complications. The assessment and management of nutritional problems are essential in supportive care of patients undergoing therapy. The primary objective of the present study was to assess changes in the nutritional status in lung cancer patients who had undergone chemotherapy. Patients and methods: Preliminary and post-chemotherapy assessments of patients' nutritional status and medical characteristics were conducted using the Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA) from July 2014 to May 2016 at Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital. Four hundred sixty-five advanced lung cancer patients (51.8% men and 48.2% women with a mean (SD) age of 60.2 ± 9.8 years) participated in the present study. PG-SGA was assessed prior to the initiation of chemotherapy and after four cycles of chemotherapy. Results: We found that 11.4% of the patients were severely malnourished and 65.6% of the patients were moderately malnourished prior to chemotherapy. After chemotherapy, 52.9% of the patients were considered moderately malnourished, whereas 33.8% were severely malnourished. The nutritional status had deteriorated in the majority of patients. After chemotherapy, there was a rise in the prevalence of nutrition impact symptoms. Conclusions: A deteriorated nutritional status was the result of the side effects caused by chemotherapy in the patients of the present study. These findings highlight that more attention should be paid to improve the nutritional status in patients with advanced lung cancer undergoing chemotherapy, and proper nutrition education and nutritional support should be provided to these patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A regional field survey of a total of 109 pairs of soil and rice samples was conducted to evaluate the health risks posed by heavy metals in the Jin-Qu Basin, China. The studied soils are characterized by acid (pH in mean level of 5.5), carbon rich (soil organic matter in mean of 33.6 g kg−1) and mainly contaminated by Cd (42.2% samples exceeded the standard value of 0.3 mg kg−1 (GB15618-2018)). The spatial distributions of Cd, Pb and Zn exhibited similar geographic trends. 34% and 30% of the rice samples containing Cd and Pb exceeded the threshold value of 0.2 mg kg−1 (GB2762-2017), respectively. The risk estimation of dietary intake had a target hazard quotient value of Cd of 0.918 and a hazard index value for rice consumption of 2.141. Totally, Cd and Pb were found to be the main components contributing to the potential health risks posed by non-carcinogenic effects for local inhabitants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Watershed ecological risk is affected by the environment, climate, and human activity. In this study, the Daxia River Basin in northwestern China was regarded as the research area. The remote heavy metal ecological risk assessment model of the basin was constructed using remote sensing data, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and environmental factors. The results show that different areas of the basin have different ecological risk levels depending on the geographical location and the level of human activity. A multivariate linear relationship exists between the NDVI and heavy metal content, precipitation, and temperature, and a correlation coefficient (r) of 0.866 was derived at a significance level of P < 0.01. There was a nonlinear relationship between the average heavy metal content and the Health Risk Index. The model correlation coefficient equals 0.893 at P < 0.01. The results of the study further demonstrate that risk assessment of the basin can be carried out using remote sensing information and environmental meteorological factors. It also reveals that establishing vegetation helps inhibit the migration of heavy metals in the soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ecological and health problems resulted from heavy metals (Mn, Fe, Ni, Co, Cu, Zn, Cd, Hg, Pb, As, and Cr) in the road dust in the towns of Sekota and Lalibela, Ethiopia were assessed. The average heavy metal concentrations were ranged from 0.088 (Cd) to 2.714 (Fe) mg/kg. Individual metal and cumulative metals pollution levels in both towns revealed that Lalibela is moderately polluted by Zn, Pb, and Ni and Sekota being moderately polluted by Zn, Pb, Ni, As, Hg, and Cu. Furthermore, the United States Environmental Protection Agency's health risk evaluation model showed that the total heavy metal health risk levels in the road dust ranged from 5.71 × 10 -3 (adult) to 2.57 × 10 -2 (children), with an average risk of 7.35 × 10 -2 . Lalibela was found to have higher chance of risk than Sekota. The total lifetime cancer risk varied from 4.51 × 10 -9 (for adults, Sekota) to 7.75 × 10 -9 (for children, Lalibela), with a mean risk of 6.12 × 10 -9 implying a low chance of getting cancer. The hazard quotient and hazard index of all the metals were below the limit. In general, children were found to be more susceptible than adults., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Heavy metal(loid)s (HM) contaminations in the soil poses threats to the human and ecological community due to their bioaccumulation, toxicity, and persistent nature in the ecosystem. This review was designed to know about the HM contamination in soils, ecological risk, distribution, and potential health risks. Soil HM concentrations published in the last 30 years were collected from Springer, Science Direct, Willey, Mendeley, ResearchGate, Google Scholar, etc. HM concentrations were used for the geo-accumulation index (Igeo), contamination factor, as well as integrated indices such as spatial distribution of ecological risk index. Similarly, the Igeo pattern was observed in Sindh > Baluchistan > Punjab > Khyber Pakhtunkhwa > Gilgit-Baltistan > Islamabad. Moreover, the high ecological risk mean values ranged (160 < ERI < 320) due to cadmium (Cd) was exhibited in the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces and Islamabad. Non-carcinogenic risk like hazard quotient was found higher for children (1.59) of Punjab due to arsenic (As) ingestion, whereas the lower risk was observed due to Zn (2.5E-08) for adults of Punjab province via inhalation pathway. Similarly, the health index (HI) from exposure to As (1.61) in soil was higher than the rest of the HM. Moreover, cancerous risk was determined and found in the tolerable range (10 -4 -10 -6 ). This study recommended that HM contaminants in the soil need to be monitored on regular basis, especially in Baluchistan, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Sindh provinces., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.)

In recent years, special attention has been given to emission research that led to the deposition of toxicants from road traffic. Thus, it is imperative to focus on heavy metal (HM) stressors in food items, their source contribution, and health risk assessment providing insight into their spatial role at the population level. In this study, heavy metal in the street vended noodles was studied while correlating the quality of noodle with different environmental origins. The samples were prepared using acid digestion and analysed by flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer, except Hg which was analysed by direct mercury analyser. The results showed that some heavy metals like Cr, Pb, Mn, Cd, and Hg exceed their permissible limits established by the international legislation for food products. In the noodle samples, the concentration of heavy metal ranged from < 0.1 to 0.904 mg/kg for Pb, < 0.09 to 0.843 mg/kg for Ni, < 0.004 to 0.201 mg/kg for Cd, < 0.0001 to 0.004 mg/kg for Hg, < 0.01 to 1.388 mg/kg for Cu, < 0.015 to 8.049 mg/kg for Mn, and < 0.02 to 16.514 mg/kg for Cr. Noodle samples vended on high traffic density streets are directly associated with increased HM content due to atmospheric deposition from the surrounding. Source apportionment study determines that HM contamination belongs to the same source of origin, except Cr. Based on the cluster analysis, these samples fall into three major groups that were further validated by the canonical discriminant function. Health risk prediction by Monte Carlo simulation revealed an elevated non-carcinogenic health hazard risk to consumers with a hazard index (HI) shift from 71 to 75%. Health hazard analysis showed that consumers of high traffic density street vended food are at higher risk of developing health-related issues. This study is important to evaluate the health risk of the population exposed to heavy metals due to ingestion of street vended food., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Sewage irrigation has solved the shortage of agricultural water and increased the content of heavy metal(loid)s (HMs) in soil-crop systems, which harms human health via the food chain. In this study, 43 pairs of soil and corn samples (leaf, stem1, stem2, stem3, root, husk, grain, and corncob) were collected in the Dongdagou (DDG) and Xidagou (XDG) streams of Baiyin City. Fraction and transfer of As and Hg were investigated, and toxicological effects and contamination were assessed in soil-corn systems. The results showed that the mean values of As and Hg in soil were 33.79 mg/kg and 0.96 mg/kg, respectively, which exceeded the soil background values in Gansu Province. As and Hg are mainly dominated by the residual fraction. Total and bioavailability contributed significantly to As and Hg accumulation in corn, with root, stem3, and leaf accumulating more strongly. The results based on the bioavailability concentration soil-corn transfer factor indicated that As and Hg tended to accumulate more in the root, stem3, and leaf and less in grain, and further assessment of the human health effects of consuming contaminated cron is needed. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) results showed that As and Hg were not significantly toxic to corn parts, indicating morphology. As and Hg were bound to hydroxyl groups in the outer epidermal cell wall of the roots, thereby reducing upward translocation. The trinity assessment (TA) model results indicated that the most severe contamination was found in root and stem1. The TA provides a practical tool for soil-cron systems and helps develop management strategies to prevent ecological hazards., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The present study was conducted to investigate the concentrations of potential toxic metals (PTMs) in agricultural soil (n = 25) and their bioaccumulation in wheat crop (n = 25) collected from alongside the Kurram River, Pakistan. The highest concentrations of Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn in soil samples were 0.16, 19.5, 14.7, 46.5, 13.5, 14.5, 14.0, and 19.7 mg kg−1, respectively. In the edible tissues of cultivated wheat crop, the highest concentrations of Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn were 0.15, 10.00, 8.75, 22.25, 11.00, 11.25, 10.50, and 7.50 mg kg−1, respectively. The selected PTM concentrations in soil samples were observed within their respective permissible limits set by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) China, while in wheat crops, the Cr and Pb concentrations were above the permissible limits of both FAO and SEPA China. The results showed that the orders of PTMs were Fe > Zn > Cr > Cu > Ni > Pb > Mn in soil and Fe > Ni > Mn > Pb > Cr > Cu > Zn in wheat. The highest PTM concentrations were reported in the sample collected near dumping sites. The results of different soil pollution indices including geo-accumulation index (Igeo), contamination factor (CF), and enrichment factor (EF) indicated that the soil of the study area was moderately to severely contaminated. The ADI values of wheat crops were less than 1, while the HQ varied among different PTMs with the highest value of 2.118 for Pb, and the lowest for Zn (0.007). The results indicated that anthropogenic intervention has made a substantial contribution to soil contamination with PTMs and subsequent uptake by wheat, which may exert potential human health risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The environmental sustainability of megacities is a global problem, and megacities are experiencing increasing pressure and challenges with regard to providing a suitable living environment for people. Urban green space plays a crucial role in protecting urban ecological environments and in maintaining the physical and mental health of residents. In this study, a total of 94 soil samples from green spaces in Shanghai, including park green spaces and road green spaces in the eight central urban districts, were collected, and the contents of heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were analyzed to determine the distribution characteristics and influencing factors and to assess the associated health risks. The accumulation of heavy metals was greater in park green space soils than in road green space soils, although the variation coefficient of the former was lower than that of the latter. Conversely, the accumulation of PAHs was lower in park green space soils than that in road green space soils, although the variation coefficient of the former was higher than that of the latter. In particular, Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd, As, and PAHs have accumulated in Shanghai green space soils. With increasing soil depth (0–2 cm, 2–5 cm, 5–10 cm, and 10–30 cm), the PAH content increased in the park green space soils but decreased in the road green space soils. According to the "Technical guidelines for risk assessment of contaminated sites (MEP of China 2014)," the overall health risk posed by green space soils in urban areas in Shanghai can be considered safe, except at individual sampling sites. The PAH, Cu, and Zn contents of park green space soils might be related to the application of organic materials and to traffic and industry emissions. However, the soil pollutants in road green spaces are predominantly related to traffic and industrial emissions. Therefore, the monitoring and management of soil environmental quality must be strengthened. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The safety of drinking and irrigation water is an issue of great concern worldwide. The rational development and utilization of water resources are vital for the economic and societal stability of Altay, an extremely arid area. In this study, three types of water samples (25 river waters, 10 groundwaters, 6 lake waters) were collected from main rivers and lakes in Altay and analyzed for electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, pH, major ions (i.e., K + , Na + , Ca 2+ , Mg 2+ , HCO 3 - , Cl - , SO 4 2- , NO 3 - , NO 2 - , F - ), and trace elements (i.e., Al, Li, B, Sc, Ti, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Rb, Sr, Mo, I, Ba, U). The water quality index (WQI), hazard quotient, carcinogenic risk, Na percentage, and Na adsorption ratio were then calculated to evaluate the water quality for drinking and irrigation. The results showed that the main hydrochemical type of river waters and groundwaters was Ca-HCO 3 , whereas that of lake water was mainly Na-SO 4 . The WQIs (9.39-170.69) indicated that the water quality in Altay ranged from poor to excellent. The concentrations of As, Ni, and U need to be carefully monitored since their average carcinogenic risks (for all waters collected, for adults) reached 0.05686, 0.06801, and 0.14527 and exceeded the safety risk levels (10 -4 -10 -6 ) by at least 568 times, 680 times, and 1452 times, respectively. The result of Na% and SAR indicated that lake waters (with Na% of 62.92 and SAR of 41.63) and groundwaters (with Na% of 37.88 and SAR of 5.58) in Altay were unsuitable for irrigation, while river water (with Na% of 29.24 and SAR of 3.33) could meet the irrigation quality requirements. The results of this study could help promote reasonable water resource use among three types of waters and population protection in Altay., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Background and Objectives: The molecular basis of MNS blood group variants is not fully clear yet. In this study, we have characterized mRNA variants of GYPA and GYPB genes to reveal whether alternative RNA splicing may cause antigenic diversity of the MNS system., Materials and Methods: Total RNA was extracted from peripheral blood of Chinese blood donors and full-length cDNA products were generated. A nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based method was established for fragment amplification and Sanger sequencing. Resulted full-length mRNA sequences were aligned with GYPA or GYPB genomic sequences respectively for exon identification. Amino acid (AA) sequences of GPA and GPB proteins were extrapolated and GYPA-EGFP, GYPB-EGFP fusion genes were generated to monitor subcellular distribution of the encoded glycophorin (GP) proteins., Results: Totally 10 blood samples were analysed. GYPB mRNAs of all the subjects demonstrated frequent exon insertion or deletion whereas this kind of variation was only observed in 3 of 10 GYPA mRNA samples. None of the reported Miltenberger hybrids was detected in any of the mRNA samples. The alternative splicing resulted in changes of AA sequences in N-terminal domains where the MNS antigenic motifs resided; however, subcellular localizations of GP-EGFP fusion proteins showed that the above-mentioned AA changes did not affect cell surface distribution of the encoded GP proteins., Conclusions: Alternative RNA splicing may influence the antigenic features of GP proteins but not their cell surface distribution. Therefore, GYPA and GYPB mRNA characterization might be an invaluable supplement to serological phenotyping and DNA-based genotyping in MNS blood grouping., (© 2022 International Society of Blood Transfusion.)

Toxic metals and particle pollutants in urbanized cities have significantly increased over the past few decades mainly due to rapid urbanization and unplanned infrastructure. This research aimed at estimating the concentration of toxic metals and particle pollutants and the associated risks to public health across different land-use settings including commercial area (CA), urban area (UA), residential area (RA), and industrial area (IA). A total of 47 samples for both soil and air were collected from different land-use settings of Faisalabad city in Pakistan. Mean concentrations of toxic metals such as Mn, Zn, Pb, Ni, Cr, Co, and Cd in all land-use settings were 92.68, 4.06, 1.34, 0.16, 0.07, 0.03, and 0.02 mg kg -1 , respectively. Mean values of PM 10 , PM 2.5 , and Mn in all land-use settings were found 5.14, 1.34, and 1.9 times higher than the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. Mn was found as the most hazardous metal in terms of pollution load index (PLI) and contamination factor (CF) in the studied area. Health risk analysis for particle pollutants using air quality index (AQI) and geoinformation was found in the range between good to very critical for all the land-use settings. The hazard quotient (HQ) and hazard index (HI) were higher for children in comparison to adults, suggesting that children may be susceptible to potentially higher health risks. However, the cancer risk (CR) value for Pb ingestion (1.21 × 10 -6 ) in children was lower than the permissible limit (1 × 10 -4 to 1 × 10 -6 ). Nonetheless, for Cr inhalation, CR value (1.09 × 10 -8 ) was close to tolerable limits. Our findings can be of valuable assistance toward advancing our understanding of soil and air pollutions concerning public health in different land-use settings of the urbanized cities of Pakistan., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The current work was conducted to study the concentrations of heavy metals (HMs) in farming soil and wheat and compute their geological and health indexes, including geo-accumulation index (I geo ), chronic daily intake (CDI), hazard index (HI), hazard quotient (HQ), and cancer risk (CR). In general, 256 samples were collected from agriculture soil (AS) and wheat in Kalaleh and Aq Qala areas, northern Iran. The average rates of Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn were detected to be 0.28, 25.24, 15.44, and 60.33 mg·kg -1 , respectively, for AS and 0.01, 8.85, 0.73, and 33.81 mg·kg -1 for wheat, respectively. Based on the results, the HQ and HI levels for investigated HMs were lower than l. So, the health risk of HMs exposure for adults and children was low. CR levels for Pb in AS for both children and adults were observed greater than the threshold value. Accordingly, lead-contaminated soil will be carcinogenic if ingested by children. On the other hand, the exposure to Pb (through wheat) and Cd (through both soil and wheat) had the acceptable CR level for all groups. As a result, for an extended period, there are no significant health consequences for children and adults., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Heavy metal pollution significantly reduces the quality of the environment and threatens human health, especially in industrial cities. This study investigated toxic metals concentrations, pollution levels and human health risks assessment of urban soils in Yazd City, as an industrial city in center of Iran. Soil surface samples (0-10 cm) were collected from 30 points in the area for geochemical analysis. The concentrations of heavy metals were determined using an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The values of the mean concentrations of toxic metals (mg kg -1 ) in the urban soils decrease in the order of Zn (83.9) > Pb (34.5) > Cr (32.6) > Cu (23.5) > Ni (23.4) > As (5.86) > Co (4.86) > Cd (0.27). The mean concentration of Zn, Pb, As and Cd elements was higher than the background and the crust values. A pollution assessment by Geo-accumulation Index (I geo ), Pollution Index (PI), Contamination Degree (C D ), the Integrated Pollution Index (IPI), the Pollution Load Index (PLI) and Integrated Nemerow Pollution Index (INPI) showed that As, Cd and Pb were moderately enriched and the study area polluted considerably by these toxic metals. Based on PI results, 88.9% of the urban soil samples highly polluted by As. Overall, the quality of the urban soil in Yazd City is clearly affected by toxic metals. Due to the prevailing wind direction, the route of the north-south highway of Iran and the population density and traffic of the northwestern and southern areas of the study area were found the highest level of pollution indicators (IPI > 1.8; LPI > 1.3; C D  > 15 and INPI > 4.3). The results of Pearson correlation analysis indicated that all pollution evaluation indicators were influenced by As and Cu, and showed high significant correlation with these two elements, while neither of them had a significant relationship with Pb and was found also a weak link statistically with Cd. Health risk assessment of toxic metals has been performed in both carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic sectors. The results indicate that oral intake is the main pathway that toxic metals can harm human health for both the child and adults. The carcinogenic risks (RI) of adults and child by toxic metals were as follows: Ni > Pb > Cr > As > Cd. Hazard quotients (HQ) and hazard index (HI) values for child also were higher than these for adults. Generally, the results demonstrated that the potential carcinogenic health risks for adults of toxic metals were in an acceptable range in study area, whereas for Cr, Ni and Pb with RI > 10 -4 , the risk of cancer in child probably increases., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. part of Springer Nature.)

In order to investigate concentrations, variability, sources, and human health risk of trace elements, 38 atmospheric dust samples were collected around Arak industrial area. The average concentrations of Cd~Zn, As, and Pb were 3.3, 2.5, and 2.4 times higher than the corresponding geochemical background, respectively, while concentrations of Co, Cu, Ni, and Hg were lower. Based on geo-accumulation index (I geo ), trace elements were classified between practically uncontaminated to moderate contaminated levels. The potential risk (RI) map showed that about 86% of the study area for all trace elements was in the moderate risk class. According to the results of positive matrix factorization (PMF) model, four factors were extracted for trace elements, including industrial sources, natural sources, mining, and transportation, that contributed about 30, 27, 26, and 17% to pollution of the area, respectively. The carcinogenic risks for inhalation exposure to Cd, As, Ni, and Co were lower than the permissible risk limit than the EPA recommend (10 -6 ), indicating an acceptable level of risk. Results of the health risk evaluation indicated that the non-carcinogenic health risk (i.e., hazard quotient, HQ) for children and adults decrease following: As > Pb > Ni > Zn > Cd > Cu > Co > Hg. When excluding As, the hazard index (HI) was lower than the safe level (HI < 1) for all the trace elements, whereas HQ values of As for children and adults were 17.1 and 1.6, respectively, indicating a potential risk for children. In sum, several remedial actions to eliminate or to reduce the dust pollution are urgently required in the industrial area of Arak., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH, DE part of Springer Nature.)

To assess the risk of heavy metals contamination on the aquatic ecosystem in downstream waters of a gold field in Northeast China, samples of sediment, fish, shrimp, and mussels were collected to determine heavy metals concentrations. According to Igeo, more attention should be given to Hg, Pb, and Cu pollution in sediment of Weisha River. For aquatic animals, the greatest contents of Hg, Cu, and Pb were found in samples collected from Weisha River, while the maximum values of Zn, Cd, and Cr were found in Hongshi Reservoir, Banmiao River, and Songhua Lake, respectively. The Hg and Pb contents in fish were found in the order of predatory fish > omnivorous fish > herbivorous fish, although for other metals no significant difference was observed among the three trophic levels. The contents of metals in Oriental river prawn and Chinese pond mussel were greater than that in fish, except for Pb. The Target Hazard Quotient and Hazard Index of metals showed that the Carnivorous and Omnivorous fish from Songhua Lake and Hongshi Reservoir, as well as all fish from Banmiao River and Weisha River, were not suitable for consuming in the view of the combined risk of all metals. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The present study aimed to evaluate the sources of pollution and the potential human and ecological risks of hazardous elements (HEs) in 40 hotspot sites of the agricultural soil around the Arvand River, Iran. The mean concentrations of As, Cd, Co, Cr, Ni, Pb, Zn, and Hg were measured to be 7.2, 0.8, 14.0, 67.9, 69.5, 63.0, 296, and 0.66 (mg kg -1 ), respectively. With the exception of Ni, the mean concentrations of all the elements were found to be higher than those in the background. The spatial distribution of HEs in the study area indicated an increasing trend of contamination from the north to the south. Pb, Zn, and Hg were the most enriched elements, resulting in a high pollution load. Moreover, the agricultural soil of the study area was threatened by a very high ecological risk due to the contribution of Hg, Cd, and Pb. Multivariate statistical analyses determined that the pollution sources are specified by the oil refinery emissions and effluents, irrigation with polluted water, fertilizers, dust storms, and airport emissions. The carcinogenic risk of HEs in both adults and children revealed an acceptable level; however, children faced a great chance of non-carcinogenic risk. The results provide a scientific basis for monitoring HEs and managing health risks via effective methods in the agricultural areas of the Arvand River basin.

The aim of this study is to assess the content of heavy metals and their potential health risk in consumed food crops. To this end, the samples from vegetables, rice, potato, onion, and black tea were derived from high sales and commonly consumed types. The noncarcinogenic health risk of heavy metals to the adults, teens, and children was estimated by target hazard quotients (THQs) and hazard index (HI) calculation. Sensitivity and uncertainty analyses were carried out using Monte Carlo simulations. Heavy metal pollution index (HMI) was used for ranking noncarcinogenic heavy metal pollution in sampled food crops. THQs showed that noncarcinogenic health risks to the local population were largely related to As (0.71 for adults, 0.87 for teens, and 2.4 for children), Mn (0.43 for adults, 0.28 for teens, and 0.64 for children), and Mo (0.12 for adults, 0.02 for teens, and 0.4 for children). HI for individual food crops (HI Σfi ) in terms of different populations showed that the highest HI Σfi was for children while the highest HI ΣTea was for adults. The arrangement of the calculated HI Σfi along with its highest value was in the order of HI ΣRice (3.71) > HI ΣTea (0.39) > HI ΣBeans (0.2) > HI ΣVegetables (0.13) > HI ΣOnion (0.12) > HI ΣPotato (0.11). The value of HI for all sampled food crops based on their daily ingestion rate achieved by deterministic and probabilistic (Monte Carlo simulations) approaches for adults, teens, and children was 1.63, 1.28, and 1.87, 1.67, 4.51, and 2.48 respectively, and revealed that all populations are vulnerable to the significant noncarcinogenic health risks and children are at more risk. The sensitivity analysis revealed that the ingestion rate (IR) is the most influential factor that contributed to the total risk. The determined HMI showed no heavy metal pollution for all food crops, and rice had higher-order in HMI ranking. These results showed that heavy metals exposure due to food ingestion is a threat to human health and needs choosing a proper strategy to reduce heavy metal exposure.

Purpose: Using river sediments as a soil amendment has hundreds to a thousand years of history in the river plain network region of southern China. This study aimed to investigate the pollution conditions of heavy metals in cultivated soils consistently amended with river sediments for a long term. Materials and methods: Soil samples were collected in agricultural fields which were amended with river sediments for a long term. Soil heavy metals (Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Pb, Hg, As, and Cd) were determined and then assessed using Nemerow's comprehensive pollution (NCP) and potential ecological risk (PER) indices. A combination of correlation, principal components, and hierarchical cluster analysis was employed to analyze the source of soil heavy metals. Results and discussion: Soil Cu, Zn, Ni, Cd, and Cr exceeded the Chinese criterion with excessive Ni levels (719.0 %) in paddy soils and Cu levels (367.8 %) in dryland soils. Soil Cd and Hg had moderate levels of ecological risk. The contamination of soils with heavy metals was graded as heavy by the NCP index or high (paddy soils) and moderate (dryland soils) by the PER index. That is, the soils have accumulated serious levels of heavy metals according to the Chinese assessment criterion. The source of heavy metals in the studied soils is shown to be mainly attributed to anthropogenic activities and environmental effects (e.g., river sediment application, atmospheric deposition). Conclusions: Therefore, as a traditional practice for soil amendment, the use of localized river sediments in this region should cease until the quality of the sediments has been assessed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to accelerated urbanization and reform of industrial structure in China, polluting industries in major cities have been closed or relocated. Consequently, large numbers of industrial sites were generated and the contaminated soils on and around these sites may pose risks to humans. This case study presents an estimation of human health risks for an area that is mainly impacted through air dispersion and deposition from a large-scale metallurgical refinery complex in Zhuzhou city, Hunan Province, China. Carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks posed by the contaminants were estimated under future industrial and residential land use scenarios. The result shows that adverse health effects may occur primarily through ingestion of soils contaminated with As, Cd, and Pb. The total carcinogenic risks of multiple contaminants for a large area exceed the acceptable risk level of 1 × 10−5, and several localized hotspots, where the total hazard index exceeds 1 were identified. Soils in the Tongda site pose the highest carcinogenic risks and non-carcinogenic hazards. It is concluded that potential human health risks exist under the proposed redevelopment scenarios, and development of risk-based remediation strategies is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hepatitis B virus-associated hepatocellular carcinoma (HBV-HCC) and hepatitis C virus (HCV)-HCC are the main indications for liver transplantation. We compared differences in survival outcomes between these two conditions. Methods and Findings: The China Liver Transplant Registry (CLTR) contains data collated from all transplants performed in 86 liver transplantation centers across China. We analyzed CLTR data from January 1999 to December 2010. In all, 7,658 patients (7,162 with HBV-HCC and 496 with HCV-HCC) were included in this study. Clinical characteristics were compared between the HBV-HCC and HCV-HCC groups; Kaplan–Meier analysis was used to calculate the overall, tumor-free and hepatitis-free survival rates. The 1-year, 3-year and 5-year overall survival was significantly higher in HBV-HCC recipients than in HCV-HCC recipients (76.65%, 56.61% and 49.10% vs. 64.59%, 42.78% and 39.20%, respectively; P<0.001). The corresponding tumor-free survival rates (63.55%, 47.37%, 40.99% vs. 56.84%, 38.04%, 35.66%, respectively) and hepatitis-free survival rates (75.49%, 54.84%, 47.34% vs. 63.87%, 42.15%, 39.33%, respectively) were both superior in HBV-HCC recipients (both P<0.001). Multivariate analyses identified hepatitis, preoperative alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) level, size of largest tumor, number of tumor nodules, TNM stage, vascular invasion and preoperative model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) score as independent predictors of overall, tumor-free and hepatitis-free survival. Conclusions: Survival outcomes after liver transplantation were significantly better in HBV-HCC patients than in HCV-HCC patients. This finding may be used to guide donor liver allocation in transplantation programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]