Key Laboratory of Watershed Environmental Science and Health of Zhejiang Province, Southern Zhejiang Water Research Institute (iWATER), Wenzhou Medical University, China.
Key Laboratory of Watershed Environmental Science and Health of Zhejiang Province, Southern Zhejiang Water Research Institute (iWATER), Wenzhou Medical University, China; Department of Land, Air, and Water Resources, University of California, Davis, USA.
Environ Pollut. 2018 Jun;237:639-649. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2018.02.020. Epub 2018 Mar 15.
Heavy metal pollution is a major concern in China because of its serious effects on human health. To assess potential human health and ecological risks of heavy metal pollution, concentration data for seven heavy metals (As, Pb, Cd, Cr, Hg, Cu, Zn) from 14 sites spanning the rural-urban interface of the Wen-Rui Tang River watershed in southeast China were collected from 2000 to 2010. The heavy metal pollution index (HPI), hazard index (HI) and carcinogenic risk (CR) metrics were used to assess potential heavy metal risks. Further, we evaluated the uncertainty associated with the risk assessment indices using Monte Carlo analysis. Results indicated that all HPI values were lower than the critical level of 100 suggesting that heavy metal levels posed acceptable ecological risks; however, one site having an industrial point-source input reached levels of 80-97 on several occasions. Heavy metal concentrations fluctuated over time, and the decrease after 2007 is due to increased wastewater collection. The HI suggested low non-carcinogenic risk throughout the study period (HI < 1); however, nine sites showed CR values above the acceptable level of 10 for potential cancer risk from arsenic in the early 2000s. Uncertainty analysis revealed an exposure risk for As at all sites because some CR values exceeded the 10 level of concern; levels of Cd near an old industrial area also exceeded the Cd exposure standard (2.6% of CR values > 10). While most metrics for human health risk did not exceed critical values for heavy metals, there is still a potential human health risk from chronic exposure to low heavy metal concentrations due to long-term exposure and potential metal interactions. Results of this study inform water pollution remediation and management efforts designed to protect public health in polluted urban area waterways common in rapidly developing regions.
重金属污染在中国是一个主要的关注点，因为它对人类健康有严重的影响。为了评估重金属污染对人类健康和生态的潜在风险，从 2000 年到 2010 年，在我国东南地区的温瑞塘河流域的城乡交接处的 14 个地点采集了 7 种重金属（砷、铅、镉、铬、汞、铜、锌）的浓度数据。采用重金属污染指数（HPI）、危害指数（HI）和致癌风险（CR）指标来评估潜在的重金属风险。此外，我们还使用蒙特卡罗分析评估了与风险评估指数相关的不确定性。结果表明，所有 HPI 值均低于 100 的临界水平，表明重金属水平造成的生态风险可以接受；然而，有一个具有工业点源输入的地点在几个场合下达到了 80-97 的水平。重金属浓度随时间波动，2007 年后的下降是由于增加了废水收集。在整个研究期间，HI 表明非致癌风险较低（HI<1）；然而，在 21 世纪初，有九个地点的 CR 值显示出砷的潜在致癌风险超过了 10 的可接受水平。不确定性分析表明，所有地点都存在砷的暴露风险，因为一些 CR 值超过了 10 的关注水平；在一个旧工业区附近，镉的水平也超过了镉暴露标准（2.6%的 CR 值>10）。虽然大多数人类健康风险指标没有超过重金属的临界值，但由于长期暴露和潜在的金属相互作用，慢性接触低浓度重金属仍存在潜在的人类健康风险。本研究结果为水污染修复和管理工作提供了信息，旨在保护快速发展地区污染城市水道的公共健康。
