The Emission of VOCs and CO from Heated Tobacco Products, Electronic Cigarettes, and Conventional Cigarettes, and Their Health Risk

The differences in aerosol composition between new tobacco types (heated tobacco products and electronic cigarettes) and conventional cigarettes have not been systematically studied. In this study, the emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), carbon monoxide (CO), nicotine, and tar from heated tobacco products (HTPs), electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) and conventional cigarettes were compared, and their health risks were evaluated by applying the same smoking regime and a loss mechanism of smoking. Twenty VOCs were identified in aerosols from HTPs, 18 VOCs were identified in aerosols from e-cigarettes, and 97 VOCs were identified in aerosols from cigarettes by GC–MS and HPLC analysis. The concentrations of total VOCs (TVOCs) emitted by the three types of tobacco products decreased as follows: e-cigarettes (795.4 mg/100 puffs) > cigarettes (83.29 mg/100 puffs) > HTPs (15.65 mg/100 puffs). The nicotine content was 24.63 ± 2.25 mg/100 puffs for e-cigarettes, 22.94 ± 0.03 mg/100 puffs for cigarettes, and 8.817 ± 0.500 mg/100 puffs for HTPs. When using cigarettes of the same brand, the mass concentrations of VOCs, tar, and CO emitted by HTPs were approximately 81.2%, 95.9%, and 97.5%, respectively, lower than the amounts emitted by cigarettes. The health risk results demonstrated that the noncarcinogenic risk of the three types of tobacco products decreased as follows: cigarettes (3609.05) > HTPs (2449.70) > acceptable level (1) > e-cigarettes (0.91). The lifetime cancer risk (LCR) decreased as follows: cigarettes (2.99 × 10−4) > HTPs (9.92 × 10−5) > e-cigarettes (4.80 × 10−5) > acceptable level (10−6). In general, HTPs and e-cigarettes were less harmful than cigarettes when the emission of VOCs and CO was considered.

Groundwater Quality Evaluation for Potable Use and Associated Human Health Risk in Gaobeidian City, North China Plain

The groundwater in Gaobeidian city is used for drinking, irrigation, industrial production, and other purposes. With the rapid development of the economy and urbanization, groundwater quality has been seriously affected. The main purposes of this paper are to evaluate the groundwater quality in the study area on the basis of understanding the hydrochemical characteristics of the study area and assess the possible health risks of groundwater to children and adults. In this paper, the entropy weight method was used to determine the weight of each evaluation parameter, and on this basis, groundwater quality evaluation was carried out, and the spatial distribution map of groundwater quality was drawn according to the evaluation results. The results show that the weight values of the five parameters of NO2–, Fe, As, Cr6+, and NO2–N are more than 0.1 among the total of fifteen parameters, and the concentration of these five parameters can be considered as the main influencing parameters of groundwater quality. The calculation results of the entropy weighted water quality index (EWQI) show that all the groundwater quality in the study area is class 1 water, which is Excellent Water. However, the EWQI value is the highest in the southwest of the study area, showing a trend of deterioration of groundwater water quality. Since all groundwater samples were evaluated as “excellent water,” it was speculated that the natural environment had more influence on groundwater chemical characteristics than human factors. The study found that 7.407% and 55.556% of the water samples posed a noncarcinogenic health risk to adults and children, respectively. The main responsible parameters for noncarcinogenic risk are F−, NO2−, NO3−, and Cr6+. The carcinogenic risk for adults ranged from 0 to 6.91E-04, with a mean of 1.00E-04. The carcinogenic risk for children ranged from 0 to 1.03E-03, with a mean of 1.55E-04. These toxic elements are mainly from industries. Therefore, the deterioration of groundwater quality can be prevented by strengthening the sewage management of various industries.

Fluoride Exposure and Probabilistic Health Risk Assessment Through Different Agricultural Food Crops From Fluoride Endemic Bankura and Purulia Districts of West Bengal, India

The present study investigates the magnitude of fluoride (F−) contamination in agricultural land soil and food crops from F− endemic regions of Bankura and Purulia districts in West Bengal. Mean fluoride level in agricultural soil was 114 ± 59 mg/kg (n = 41) and 126 ± 65 mg/kg (n = 47) in Bankura and Purulia districts, respectively. Considering the food crops cultivated in Bankura (n = 79) and Purulia (n = 108), the mean fluoride concentration in nonleafy vegetables (18.1 ± 6.51 mg/kg and 15.6 ± 5.93 mg/kg) and leafy vegetables (12.8 ± 2.8 mg/kg and 18.4 ± 6.33 mg/kg) from the two studied districts was comparatively higher than that in the cereal (2 ± 1.05 mg/kg and 2.01 ± 1.01 mg/kg) and pulses (3.35 ± 1.42 mg/kg and 4.82 ± 1.19 mg/kg). The BCF values of fluoride in food crops (n = 27) from Bankura (range: 0.007–0.377) and Purulia (range: 0.005–0.319) were much lower than the optimum value of 1. Estimated daily intake (EDI) of fluoride was the highest for children in both Bankura (EDIcumulative = 0.0291 mg/kg bw/day) and Purulia (EDIcumulative = 0.0326 mg/kg bw/day) among all the studied age groups. The nonleafy vegetables contributed the highest exposure of fluoride (approximately 55.5%) to EDIcumulative among all the food crops. The uncertainty analysis for assessment of probabilistic health risk was carried out for all the studied age groups through hazard index (HI), total hazard index (THI), and lifetime noncarcinogenic risk (HILTNR). However, HI value was found to be <1 for all the age groups resulting in no such kind of potential health risk of fluorosis through consumption of individual food crops, and the trend of THI from all the food crops was found in the order of children > adults > adolescents > teenagers from both districts. The lifetime noncarcinogenic risk (HILTNR) of fluoride with percentile doses from P5 to P95 (exploring the model of Monte Carlo simulation) in all the studied age groups (4–70 years) was found to be >1 indicating that the inhabitants were more vulnerable for their total lifetime period of fluoride exposure through consumption of food crops.

Trace Metals in Pork Meat Products Marketed in Italy: Occurrence and Health Risk Characterization

This study provides valuable information on the levels of various trace metals (Pb, Cd, Hg, Zn, Cu, Cr) in meat products (baked ham, raw ham, mortadella, cured sausage, würstel, salami) from South Italy and calculates potential health risk toxicity associated with their consumption for the total population and for children. In the samples studied metal concentrations are within the permissible legal limits (Cd: 0.01–0.03 μg g−1 w.w., Hg: 0.01–0.02 μg g−1 w.w., Zn: 5.71–7.32 μg g−1 w.w., Cu: 1.08–1.21 μg g−1 w.w., Cr: 0.15–0.23 μg g−1 w.w.), except for Pb (Pb: 0.22–0.38 μg g−1 w.w.). The estimated intake values are within the provisional tolerable daily intake limits for toxic metals and recommended daily intake values for essential metals in both tested groups. The noncarcinogenic risk values of the individual metals indicate that there is no health risk, but their combined effects might constitute a potential risk for children. Furthermore, the cumulative cancer risk of all samples studied exceeds the recommended threshold risk limit (> 10−4) in both total population and children, indicating a risk of potential health problems for consumers especially for children, who are more vulnerable to toxic metal exposure.

Human health risk assessment and spatial distribution of fluoride from shallow groundwater in a region of southwest China

This article took fluoride in shallow groundwater of a township in southwestern China as the research object. Fifty sampling points were set up in the studied area. The fluoride was tested by the ion-selective electrode method. The health risk model recommended by the United States Environmental Protection Agency was used. Based on the Chinese population, human health risk assessment was performed for fluoride in shallow groundwater in the studied area, and the Kriging interpolation method was used to simulate the spatial distribution of fluoride concentration in the area. The research showed the following. (1) The concentration of fluoride in the shallow groundwater samples in the studied area was 0.06–0.78 mg/L, with an average value of 0.35 mg/L, which was in line with the limit value (1.00 mg/L) in the standards for drinking water quality (GB 5749–2006), but its maximum value was 0.78 mg/L, which was 1.86 times of the background value. (2) The average hazard index of children and adults were 0.27 and 0.15, respectively, which were less than 1, and the risk was at an acceptable level; the noncarcinogenic risk of children was 1.8 times that of adults; the average values of total risk quotient for groundwater fluoride intake by children and adults were 0.27 and 0.15, respectively, and 1.19E-03 and 7.26E-04 by skin, respectively. This indicated that of the two routes, oral intake was the main route of exposure to fluoride. The noncarcinogenic risk values of fluoride in rural and urban areas were similar, and both were less than 1. (3) The high-value areas of fluoride were mainly concentrated in the southeast of the area, which was mainly affected by the superposition of natural factors and industrial park sewage discharge. Through human health risk assessment and spatial distribution of fluoride in regional groundwater, it can provide a theoretical basis for regional groundwater pollution prevention.

Essential elements in the different type of fruits, soil and water samples collected from Markazi province, Iran: a health risk assessment study

Fruits could contain elements in various concentrations, which can have both positive and negative impacts on human health. The concentrations of essential elements, including Iron (Fe), Copper (Cu), Zinc (Zn), Manganese (Mn), and Chromium (Cr) in five types of fruits, namely, peach, apple, grape, nectarine, and golden plum, and the soil and irrigation water from six industrial zones of Markazi province, Iran, were evaluated using an inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) technique. The noncarcinogenic risk was assessed by determining the target hazard quotient and the Monte Carlo simulation model. The highest concentrations of Fe, Mn, and Cr were observed in golden plum, while the highest concentrations of Cu and Zn were noted in grape and apple, respectively. The order of the mean of concentrations of elements in the soil and water samples were Fe > Mn > Zn > Cu > Cr. The transfer factor (TF) results indicate that studied fruits could not absorb a high amount of these elements from the soil (TF < 1). Target hazard quotient values of these elements in both adults and chil-dren were ranked as Cr > Cur > Fe > Mn > Zn. The target hazard quotient was 95% and total target hazard quo-tient was <1, meaning that the consumption of fruits is safe for consumers.