Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral, ESPOL, Facultad de Ingeniería en Ciencias de La Tierra, Campus Gustavo Galindo km 30.5 vía Perimetral, P.O. Box 09-01-5863, Guayaquil, Ecuador.
Centro Experimental de Ingeniería, Universidad Tecnológica de Panamá, Vía Tocumen, P.O. Box 0819-07289, Panama City, Panama.
Environ Geochem Health. 2023 Jul;45(7):4549-4563. doi: 10.1007/s10653-023-01514-x. Epub 2023 Mar 1.
Consumption of food grown in contaminated soils may be a significant human exposure pathway to pollutants, including toxic elements. This study aimed to investigate the pollution level of trace elements in farmland soil and crops collected in orchards from Ponce Enriquez, one of the Ecuador's most important gold mining areas. The concentration of arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chrome (Cr), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn) was analyzed in soil and crop samples (celery, chives, corn, herbs, lettuce, turnips, green beans, cassava, and carrots). In addition, a probabilistic human health risk assessment, in terms of hazard quotients (HQ) and cancer risk (CR), was conducted to assess the potential risk related to local crop ingestion. The contents of As, Cr, Cu, and Ni in soils exceeded the Ecuadorian quality guidelines for agricultural soils. The trace elements concentration in local crops was higher than the maximum permissible levels set by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The HQ and CR of local crop ingestion were several orders higher than the safe exposure threshold, mainly for lettuce, chives, and turnips. Our results revealed that inhabitants of the study area are exposed to developing carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic effects due to long-term food consumption with high trace elements. This study sheds light on the need to assess further the quality of agricultural soils and crops grown in mining areas with signs of contamination to guarantee consumer food safety.
食用受污染土壤中生长的食物可能是人类接触污染物（包括有毒元素）的一个重要途径。本研究旨在调查厄瓜多尔最重要的金矿之一——恩塞纳达的波塞·恩里克斯（Ponce Enriquez）果园土壤和作物中微量元素的污染水平。分析了土壤和作物样本（芹菜、韭菜、玉米、香草、生菜、萝卜、青豆、木薯、胡萝卜）中的砷（As）、镉（Cd）、铬（Cr）、铜（Cu）、镍（Ni）、铅（Pb）和锌（Zn）的浓度。此外，还进行了基于危害系数（HQ）和癌症风险（CR）的概率人体健康风险评估，以评估与当地作物摄入相关的潜在风险。土壤中 As、Cr、Cu 和 Ni 的含量超过了厄瓜多尔农业土壤质量指南。当地作物中微量元素的浓度高于联合国粮食及农业组织（FAO）规定的最大允许水平。当地作物摄入的 HQ 和 CR 比安全暴露阈值高出几个数量级，主要是生菜、韭菜和萝卜。我们的研究结果表明，由于长期食用高微量元素的食物，研究区域的居民面临着发生致癌和非致癌影响的风险。本研究表明，需要进一步评估受污染迹象的矿区农业土壤和作物的质量，以保障消费者的食品安全。
