scholarly journals Evaluation of the Radiological and Chemical Risk for Public Health from Flour Sample Investigation

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 3646
Author(s):  
Francesco Caridi ◽  
Giuseppe Acri ◽  
Alberto Belvedere ◽  
Vincenza Crupi ◽  
Maurizio D’Agostino ◽  
...  

Flour investigation, in terms of physical and chemical pollutants and mineral content, is of great interest, in view of its high consumption for nutritional purposes. In this study, eleven types of flour (five samples for each one), coming from large retailers and employed by people for different cooking food purposes, were investigated through high-purity germanium (HPGe) gamma spectrometry, in order to estimate natural (40K) and anthropogenic (137Cs) radioisotope specific activity and thus, to assess the radiological risk due to the flour ingestion. Inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and inductively-coupled plasma emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) were also employed to evaluate any possible heavy metal contamination and the mineral composition, and to perform multivariate statistical analysis to deduce the flour authenticity. The evaluation of dose levels due to flour ingestion was performed, for the age category higher than 17 years, taking into account the average yearly consumption in Italy and assuming this need to be satisfied from a single type of flour as a precaution. All obtained results are under the allowable level set by Italian legislation (1 mSv y−1), thus excluding the risk of ionizing radiation effects on humans. As far as heavy metal contamination is concerned, Cd and Pb concentrations turned out to be lower than the threshold values, thus excluding their presence as pollutants. Finally, the multivariate statistical analysis allowed to unambiguously correlate flour samples to their botanical origin, according to their elemental concentrations.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soni Kumari ◽  
Amarnath Mishra

In the era of industrialization, pollution has totally deteriorated the quality and diversity of life. Heavy metal contaminations are the major causes of environment deteriorations. The basic reasons are natural as well as anthropogenic. Chief sources of heavy metal contamination are air pollution, river sediments, sewage sludge, town waste composts, agricultural chemicals like fertilizers and pesticides, and industrial waste like factories releasing chemicals, anthropogenic activities, etc. Agricultural soils in many parts of the world are generally contaminated by heavy metal toxicity such as Cd, Cu, Zn, Ni, Co, Pb, Hg, As, etc. These are due to the long-term use of phosphate fertilizers, sewage sludge, dust from smelters, industrial waste, etc. Heavy metals in soils are detected with some specific instruments like atomic absorption spectroscopy, inductively coupled plasma, inductively coupled plasma-mass spectroscopy, and X-ray fluorescence and spectroscopy. Among all these instruments, atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) is the best because it gives the precise quantitative determination. AAS is a method applied for measuring the quantity of the trace elements present in the soil or any other samples.


2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (10) ◽  
pp. 714-725
Author(s):  
Rajan Jakhu ◽  
Rohit Mehra

Drinking water samples of Jaipur and Ajmer districts of Rajasthan, India, were collected and analyzed for the measurement of concentration of heavy metals. The purpose of this study was to determine the sources of the heavy metals in the drinking water. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry was used for the determination of the heavy metal concentrations, and for the statistical analysis of the data, principal component analysis and cluster analysis were performed. It was observed from the results that with respect to WHO guidelines, the water samples of some locations exceeded the contamination levels for lead (Pb), selenium (Se), and mercury (Hg), and with reference to the EPA guidelines, the samples were determined unsuitable for drinking because of high concentrations of Pb and Hg. Using multivariate statistical analysis, we determined that copper, manganese, arsenic, Se, and Hg were of anthropogenic origin, while Pb, copper, and cadmium were of geogenic origin. The present study reports the dominance of the anthropogenic contributions over geogenics in the studied area. The sources of the anthropogenic contaminants need to be investigated in a future study.


Scientifica ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shameer Syed ◽  
Paramageetham Chinthala

The biosorption mechanism is an alternative for chemical precipitation and ultrafiltration which have been employed to treat heavy metal contamination with a limited success. In the present study, three species ofBacilluswhich were isolated from solar salterns were screened for their detoxification potential of the heavy metals, lead, chromium, and copper, by biosorption. Biosorption potential of each isolate was determined by Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS), Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES), and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) as the amount of metal present in the medium after the treatment with the isolates. Bacterial isolates,Bacillus licheniformisNSPA5,Bacillus cereusNSPA8, andBacillus subtilisNSPA13, showed significant level of lead biosorption with maximum of 87–90% byBacillus cereusNSPA8. The biosorption of copper and chromium was relatively low in comparison with lead. With the obtained results, we have concluded that the bacterial isolates are potential agents to treat metal contamination in more efficient and ecofriendly manner.


Plants ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 3
Author(s):  
Nur Syahirah Zulkafflee ◽  
Nurul Adillah Mohd Redzuan ◽  
Jinap Selamat ◽  
Mohd Razi Ismail ◽  
Sarva Mangala Praveena ◽  
...  

Heavy metals from natural and anthropogenic sources accumulate in soil and plants and as a consequence represent important environmental contamination problems. Nevertheless, food safety issues and adverse health risks make this one of the most serious environmental issues. The aim of the present study was to assess heavy metal contamination in the paddy plants from the northern area of Malaysia using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICPMS) and its risk assessment. In total, the heavy metals (As, Cd, Cu, Cr, and Pb) of the samples of paddy plants harvested from Kedah areas were extracted using an acid digestion method, while the heavy metals for soil samples using ammonium acetate. The heavy metal concentrations were then analysed using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). The enrichment (EF) and translocation factors (TF) of heavy metals were calculated, and health risk assessment (HRA) was performed. The EF values for heavy metals from the soil to roots, roots to stems, stems to leaves, and stems to grains followed the order Cu > As > Cr > Cd > Pb, whereas Cr and Pb were characterized by greater TF values from stem to grain than the other elements. The average daily dose (ADD) for both children and adults is below the safe value intake for each of the studied elements. The combined hazard index (HI) of five elements was beyond the acceptable value (HI >1). The carcinogenic risk, as exemplified by lifetime cancer risk (LCR), indicated that single exposure to As or Cr, in both adults and children, was greater than 10−4. The total cancer risk (CRt) resulting from multiple exposure to carcinogenic elements exceeded the acceptable value (CRt >1 ×10−4) in both adults and children. Overall, exposure to heavy metals through rice consumption poses potential non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic health risks to the local residents in the northern area; thus, regular monitoring of pollution in the area is crucial.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 01-05
Author(s):  
Nur Illia Mohd Ruzaidy ◽  
Azura Amid

The quality of marketed vegetables cannot be guaranteed as many of them has been contaminated with heavy metals such as lead, cadmium and arsenic. These heavy metals can act as either growth supporter or threat depending on their types and amount absorbed by the plants. The consumption of an excessive amount of heavy metals in vegetable may cause several diseases such as renal dysfunction and bone depletion. There are few methods used to detect heavy metal contamination such as Atomic Absorption Analysis (AAS), Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA), X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy (XRF) and Inductively Coupled Plasma Spectrometry (ICPMS). This paper discusses all these methods to compare their efficiency, advantages and disadvantages to select the best method for heavy metal detection in vegetables.


2015 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
György Heltai ◽  
Ilona Fekete ◽  
Gábor Halász ◽  
Katalin Kovács ◽  
Márk Horváth ◽  
...  

Abstract For the characterisation of the environmental mobility of heavy metal contamination in aquatic sediments, the EU Bureau of Reference has proposed a fractionation by sequential extraction procedure. For its validation, the CRM-701 sample is available containing Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn. In this paper, the matrix-matched calibration problems are presented. A multi-elemental inductively coupled plasma-optical emission technique is employed for the detection of heavy metals in the extracts. It was established that the sensitivities are strongly influenced by the extractants, which causes significant matrix effects: the sensitivities are strongly influenced by the solvents applied in extraction steps; the summarised recoveries show an acceptable agreement with the certified values; however, in the individual extraction steps for certain elements significant differences may occur due to the neglected interferences. Therefore, further optimisation is required utilising the flexible line selection possibility offered by the HORIBA Jobin Yvon ACTIVA-M instrument.


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