Cadmium Level Status in Iranian Breast Milk: A Systematic Review

Introduction: Due to the lack of a systematic review on cadmium status in breast milk of Iranian mothers, this study was designed to evaluate the published articles on factors affecting the exposure and the levels of cadmium in breast milk. Methods: In this study, English and Farsi electronic databases, including PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, Web of Science, Magiran, Iran Medex and SID were comprehensively searched for papers published from July 2009 until May 2021. The PRISMA guidelines for reporting systematic reviews were followed for screening and reviewing the processes involved in this study. Results: From 102 articles found in the initial search, 9 studies were included in systematic review. The highest mean cadmium concentration was related to milk samples collected from Kerman City. Among study factors, the exposure to cigarette smoke, living near industrial centers and maternal nutrition had a significant effect on increasing the concentration of cadmium in breast milk. Conclusion: Further studies are demanded to obtain more comprehensive and reliable results on the status of cadmium in breast milk of Iranian mothers.

Cadmium Removal from Giant Squid (Dosidicus gigas) Hydrolysate in Fixed-Bed Columns Packed with Iminodiacetic Resin: Tools for Scaling up the Process

Giant squid hydrolysate (GSH) elaborated from different batches from a fishing company was evaluated for cadmium removal. Fixed-bed column packed with iminodiacetic resin as adsorbent was used. GSH solution at different cadmium concentrations were fed in the fixed-bed column and breakthrough curves were evaluated. A high degree of metal removal from the solution was achieved and the saturation point (Ce/C0 ≤ 0.8) was achieved more quickly at higher concentrations of cadmium. The maximum capacity of adsorption (q0) was obtained using the Thomas model, where 1137.4, 860.4, 557.4, and 203.1 mg g−1 were achieved using GSH with concentrations of 48.37, 20.97, 12.13, and 3.26 mg L−1, respectively. Five cycles of desorption of the resin with HCl (1 M) backflow and regeneration with NaOH (0.5 M) were also evaluated, where no significant differences (p-value > 0.05) were observed between each cycle, with an average of 935.9 mg g−1 of qmax. The in-series columns evaluated reached a total efficiency of 90% on average after the third column in GSH with a cadmium concentration of 20.97 mg L−1. This kind of configuration should be considered the best alternative for cadmium removal from GSH. Additionally, the chemical composition of GSH, which was considered a quality parameter, was not affected by cadmium adsorption.

Smoking effect on the cadmium and zinc concentration in smokers and nonsmokers

Studies have shown that cigarette smoking affects the accumulation of some heavy metals in certain tissues and metabolism of essential elements. The aim of the study was to determine the differences in the concentrations of cadmium in the blood and urine and zinc in the urine of smokers and ex-smokers in relation to non-smokers, and to determine the possible influence of cadmium concentration on zinc excretion as an essential element. The study included 106 subjects. Subjects were regular smokers (n=51), ex-smokers (n=38) and non-smokers (n=17). Atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS) with an electrothermal atomizer was used to determine cadmium. Zinc was determined by AAS with a flame atomizer. There was a significant difference in the values of cadmium in the blood between the groups: smokers and non-smokers (p<0.001), smokers and ex-smokers (p <0.001), and between ex-smokers and non-smokers (p = 0.045). There is a significant positive and strong correlation in the level of zinc and cadmium in urine per gram of creatinine, and as the level of cadmium increases, the level of zinc also increases (rho=0.781; p=0.001). The data indicate that cigarette smoking has been shown to be a factor that can increase cadmium levels to an extent that will significantly increase zinc excretion, or its increased loss.

Fluorescent Indicators for Live-Cell and in Vitro Detection of Inorganic Cadmium Dynamics

Cadmium contamination is a severe threat to the environment and food safety. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop highly sensitive and selective cadmium detection tools. The engineered fluorescent indicator is a powerful tool for the rapid detection of inorganic cadmium in the environment. In this study, the development of yellow fluorescent indicators of cadmium chloride by inserting a fluorescent protein at different positions of the high cadmium-specific repressor and optimizing the flexible linker between the connection points is reported. These indicators provide a fast, sensitive, specific, high dynamic range, and real-time readout of cadmium ion dynamics in solution. Under optimal conditions, the fluorescent indicators N0C0/N1C1 showed a linear response to cadmium concentration within the range from 10/30 to 50/100 nM and with a detection limit of 10/33 nM. Escherichia coli cells containing the indicator were used to further study the response of cadmium ion concentration in living cells. E. coli N1C1 could respond to different concentrations of cadmium ions. This study provides a rapid and straightforward method for cadmium ion detection in vitro and the potential for biological imaging.

Accumulation of cadmium in organs of experimental animals and its effect on the content of essential elements in the chronic intoxication

Introduction. This article presents the results of studying the effects of cadmium chloride and its accumulation in experimental animals’ liver, kidneys, and blood. The impact of cadmium consumption on basic bioelements (zinc, copper, calcium) in organs was assessed. Materials and methods. Experimental groups of white outbred rats were exposed daily for three months to a cadmium chloride solution containing 1, 10 and 100 μg of cadmium. Cadmium exposure was assessed at 1, 4, 12, 30, 60 and 90 days. The concentrations of cadmium, calcium, copper and zinc were measured by atomic absorption spectrometry. Results. Whole blood cadmium concentration was not statistically different from the control group. The accumulation of cadmium in the blood was observed only after three months of exposure to a dose of 100 μg. The accumulation of cadmium in the liver occurred after one and two months of intoxication, depending on the dose. In the kidneys, an increase in cadmium occurred in all experimental groups after one month of injection. The metal content depended on the level of exposure, but no difference was observed between the liver and kidney. The concentration of zinc and calcium decreased in the kidneys and liver. Conclusion. Changes in calcium and zinc, accompanied by elevated levels of cadmium in the liver and kidneys, suggest that cadmium may interfere with the biological processes in which these elements are involved.

Cadmium concentration in water and sediment from lake Lau Kawar, North Sumatra

Heavy metals are easy to bind organic matter and settle to the bottom of the waters and unite with sediments, which is cadmium. Cadmium (Cd) is found from volcanic eruptions, from various human activities, and is carcinogenic. This study aims to analyze the concentration of cadmium in water and sediment in Lake Lau Kawar. Water samples were collected by purposive sampling at three stations using Horizontal Bottle samples. Sediment samples were collected compositely using an Eckmann grab then analyzed by the Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer method. Descriptive data analysis used comparative quantitative methods, namely comparing the level of cadmium in water and sediment in Lau Kawar Lake with the quality standards set by WHO and IADC/CEDA. The water quality in Lake Lau Kawar is in good condition. The concentration of heavy metal Cd in water and sediment still meets the established water quality standard criteria. The source of Cd contamination in the lake, which comes from the volcanic ash of Mount Sinabung, is only carried in low quantities. The largest source of contamination comes from the activities of residents as fertilizers and pesticides used on agricultural land.

Effect of cadmium sorption by river sediments on longitudinal dispersion

This paper concerns the cadmium sorptive effects by river bed sediments on longitudinal dispersion coefficient in an open-channel flow via experimental and numerical study. For this purpose, a circular flume was used with mean diameter of 1.6 m and a width of 0.2 m. The adsorbing bed was considered as a thin layer of the sediment particles with mean diameter of 0.53 mm and three sediment concentrations of 3, 12, and 20 gr/lit. To determine the sorption parameters of the sediments, some experiments were conducted with three cadmium concentrations of 150, 460, and 770 ppb. Then, the dispersion experiments were carried out with and without the bed sediments with the same cadmium concentration as the sorption experiments. A numerical model was then developed to solve the advection-dispersion equation with considering the sorption term by river bed sediments. The longitudinal dispersion coefficients were estimated by comparing the experimental and numerical breakthrough curves. The results showed that, with increasing the sediment concentrations, the sediment sorption rate increased and the longitudinal dispersion coefficient decreased by about 38, 36 and 33 percent, respectively, for cadmium concentrations of 150, 460 and 770 ppb. In addition, by increasing the cadmium concentrations, the changes in the longitudinal dispersion coefficient are decreased. Furthermore, a relationship was developed using non-dimensional longitudinal dispersion as a function of the new parameter of sorption ratio. From a practical point of view, the results of this study demonstrated that, at the presence of riverbed sediment, the cadmium is longitudinally dispersed with more delay in comparison with no sediment at the river bed.

A Small-Scale Study on Removal of Heavy Metals from Contaminated Water Using Water Hyacinth

The aim of this research was to determine whether water hyacinth can be used to remove heavy metals, such as cadmium, arsenic, lead, zinc, and copper, from industrial wastewater. Investigations of the pollution removal or prevention potential of aquatic macrophytes, such as heavy metal bio-indicators in aquatic habitats, can prove to be advanced field studies. Water hyacinth is one of the aquatic plant species that has been effectively utilized for the treatment of wastewater. It is extremely effective in removing stains, suspended solids, BOD, organic matter, and heavy metals. This research focused on the use of water hyacinth to treat wastewater from heavy metals. Water hyacinths can grow in sewage, absorbing and digesting contaminants and transforming sewage effluents into comparatively clean water in the process. As a result, the plants have the potential to be used as natural water purification systems at a fraction of the cost of a standard sewage treatment facility. The experiment was performed using healthy, young, and acclimatized water hyacinths. Containment water with a cadmium concentration of 0.5 mg/L, arsenic concentration of 0.5 mg/L, lead concentration of 2 mg/L, zinc concentration of 5 mg/L, and copper concentration of 5 mg/L was added to five different polyethylene pots with 100 g of water hyacinth in each pot. After 30 days, the removal efficiency for heavy metals (Cd, As, Pb, Zn, and Cu) reached 59–92%, and the results were within the permitted limits according to the National Technical Regulation on Industrial Wastewater in Vietnam. Based on this information, it is possible to deduce that water hyacinth can be utilized to remove cadmium, arsenic, lead, zinc, and copper from industrial wastewater effluents efficiently.

Evaluation of heavy metals composition of drinking water distributed to Addis Ababa City, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Background Compromised drinking water quality due to accumulation of heavy metals is becoming a serious concern for many countries, including Ethiopia. Chronic exposure to heavy metals is associated with many human diseases. This study aimed at determining the levels of heavy metals in drinking water supplied to Addis Ababa city. There has been no such study done on drinking water supplied to the city Methodology: A community based cross-sectional study design was employed from April 2018 to December 2018. Inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) was used to measure the concentration of heavy metals in drinking water samples. Result The highest concentration of lead was recorded in water samples taken from Gefersa, Asko and Kolfie areas. Results of this study also showed that there was a statistically significant difference in the mean levels of lead in water samples taken from different treatment plants and their respective catchments (p-value < 0.01). Conclusion The mean lead level in water samples were higher than the maximum admissible limit set by the WHO in 2011. The mean level of cadmium concentration was higher than the maximum admissible limit of cadmium set by WHO in 2011 in water samples of the Gefersa surface water & catchment area. However, all values of heavy metals were lower than their respective maximum contaminant level set by USEPA in 2010.