Dietary cadmium exposure assessment in rural areas of Southwest China

Dietary exposure of cadmium (Cd) has not been studied in Southwest China. The objective of the study was to determine the pollution characteristics and contamination levels in various agriculture products in Southwest China and to conduct a comparison of dietary exposure assessment of Cd in polluted and non-polluted areas. Results showed that the mean Cd contents in rice were 0.53 and 0.52 mg/kg in the high-polluted and low-polluted areas, respectively, with the average value was 0.03 mg/kg in the control area. The mean dietary Cd exposure from rice and vegetables of the selected non-occupational residents in Southwest China was 113.10 μg/kg bodyweight (bw)/month, 88.80 μg/kg bw/month, and 16.50 μg/kg bw/month in the high-polluted, low-polluted, and control areas, respectively, which correspond to 4.5 times, 3.6 times, and 0.66 times of the provisional tolerable monthly intake (25 μg/kg bw/month) established by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives. The findings indicated that the risk for Cd exposure of residents was high due to home-grown food (most especially rice) being near polluted areas and is of great concern.

镉（Cadmium, Cd）经膳食途径的暴露研究在我国西南地区尚属空白。本研究旨在明确我国西南地区各类农产品的镉污染特征与污染水平，并对比分析污染区与非污染区居民的镉膳食暴露评估结果。结果显示，高污染区、低污染区稻米中的镉平均含量分别为0.53 mg/kg与0.52 mg/kg，对照组稻米镉平均含量为0.03 mg/kg。我国西南地区选定的非职业暴露居民经稻米与蔬菜摄入的镉膳食平均暴露量，在高污染区、低污染区及对照组分别为113.10 μg·kg⁻¹·体重（Bodyweight, bw）·月⁻¹、88.80 μg·kg⁻¹·bw·月⁻¹及16.50 μg·kg⁻¹·bw·月⁻¹，分别相当于联合国粮农组织/世界卫生组织食品添加剂联合专家委员会制定的暂定每月可耐受摄入量（25 μg·kg⁻¹·bw·月⁻¹）的4.5倍、3.6倍与0.66倍。研究结果表明，由于居民食用污染区附近自产的农产品（尤以稻米为主），当地居民面临的镉暴露风险较高，该问题值得高度关注。