[Risk assessment of lead and cadmium exposure of Nanjing residents through vegetables and edible fungus from 2014 to 2018].

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the potential risk of lead and cadmium through vegetables and edible fungus in Nanjing City from 2014 to 2018.

METHODS

Based on the survey of dietary consumption of residents in Nanjing City, combining with the concentration data of lead and cadmium in vegetables and edible fungus, using @Risk software to simulate and analyze the cumulative dietary exposure in a probabilistic way, and compared with the health guidance value or benchmark dose(BMD) to assess the potential health risks of lead and cadmium for Nanjing residents.

RESULTS

The average exposure of lead and cadmium was 0.237 and 0.090 μg/kg, the exposure of cadmium in the general population were lower than the corresponding health guidance value, meanwhile the margin of exposure(MOE) for lead was higher than 1 in 18-49 years old group and over 50 years old group respectively, except for the high-end exposure(P95) in 6-17 years group the MOE for lead was 0.9. The pollution level and the consumption of leafy vegetables, edible fungus and artemisia selengensis were the main factors affecting the exposure of lead and cadmium through vegetables and edible fungus.

CONCLUSION

The exposure to lead and cadmium through vegetables is at a relatively safe level, but more attention should be paid to the risk of lead and cadmium exposure in 6-17 years old and over 50 years old group of high-end exposure population.