Health assessment of heavy metals via consumption of Foodstuffs

1. In the name of Allah, The Most Beneficent, The Most Merciful. 1

2. HEALTH RISK ASSOCIATED WITH HEAVY
METALS VIA CONSUMPTION OF
FOODSTUFFS:A MARKET BASED STUDY
Presented by:
Saad Farooqi
MS Environmental Sciences
2
Department of Environmental Sciences
COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus

3. CONTENTS
 Introduction
 Questions
 Objectives
 Methodology
 Results
DMI and HRI
 Conclusion
 Recommendations
 References 3

4. INTRODUCTION
Food security is a major health concern in the world.
Increasing food demand and security can attract the attention of
researchers to the health risk.
Fruits, vegetables and cereals are contaminated with PTMs released
from natural as well as anthropogenic sources.
The accumulation of metals in plants depends on the plant species,
and the efficiency of plants for absorbing metals.
4

5. CONT..
Study Area
Swat
Batkhela
Shergarh
Takht Bahi
Mardan
Peshawar
5Fig 1. Location map of the study area showing the sampling sites.

6. CONT..
The following foodstuffs are:
 Fruits - Apple, Banana,
Guava & Tangerine)
 Vegetables - Tomato,
Onion, Peas, Lady
fingers & Potato)
 Cereal crops - Kidney
beans, Chickpeas and
Rice (Sela & Begamai)
6

7. QUESTIONS
Is the concentration of HMs exceeds from permissible limit?
Is there any health risk on humans from foodstuffs?
7

8. OBJECTIVES
The main objectives of the study were:
To investigate the HM concentrations in foodstuffs supplied to
different markets.
To evaluate the human health risk associated with HMs.
8

9. METHODOLOGY
Collected foodstuff samples
Samples were placed in a clean plastic bags and labeled it.
Removed the soil particles.
Clean samples were dried at 65 ± 5 °C for 72 h.
Powdered the samples by using an electric grinder.
Finally, kept in envelopes.
9

10. CONT..
Digestion:
1.0 g sample, added 10 ml concentrated HNO3 and kept overnight.
Next day, 4 ml perchloric acid (HClO4)
Heated it until the solution became transparent.
 After heating, deionized water was added to make 50ml solution.
Then passing through the filter paper.
Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (Perkin Elmer AAS-700)
10

11. CONT..
HEALTH RISK ASSESSMENT
The evaluation of health risk indicators are:
Chronic Daily Intake (CDI/DMI/EDI)
Health Risk Index (HRI)
These indicators were calculated to assess the potential chronic
risks in the study area.
11

12. CONT..
Chronic Daily Intake (CDI/DMI/EDI)
 The average intake of HMs was determined by formula.
DMI = Cmetal × Cfactor × Dfood intake / Baverage weight
Cmetal is concentration of HMs in foodstuffs (mg/kg),
Cfactor is conversion factor,
Dfood intake is food daily intake
Baverage weight is average weight of body.
 The Cfactor (0.0845) was used for the conversion of fresh
foodstuffs to dry.
12
Children Adult
Average Daily
Intake of Food
(kg/person-day)
0.232 0.345
Average body
weight (Kg)
32.7 73
(Jan et al., 2010; Khan et al, 2013a)
Table 1. Daily food intake and body
weight for children and adults.

13. CONT..
Health Risk Indices (HRI):
Formula used to determined the HRI of HMs (Cr, Cd, Ni, Pb, Zn and As) is:
HRI = DMI / RfD
HRI = health risk index, DMI = daily metal intake, RfD = reference daily dose
13
Table 2. Reference Daily Dose (RfD)
Cr Ni Zn As Cd Pb
1.5E-00 2.0E-02 3.0E-01 3.0E-04 5.0E-04 3.6E-02
(Shah et al., 2012; Khan et al., 2013b; USEPA, 2005; USEPA, 2012).

14. RESULTS
14
Table 3. Mean and Range of HMs in Fruits
HMs
Range
(mg/kg)
Mean
(mg/kg)
Lowest
(mg/kg)
Highest
(mg/kg)
Cr 1.29 - 3.46 2.37 Apple (2.18) Tangerine (2.58)
Ni 5.26 - 58.08 29.42 Tangerine (25.03) Guava (31.74)
Zn 3.77 - 17.35 9.27 Apple (7.62) Guava (11.83)
As 0.04 - 0.18 0.10 Guava (0.06) Banana(0.15)
Cd 0.01 - 0.10 0.05 Guava (0.04) Banana (0.07)
Pb 0.03 - 0.51 0.26 Guava (0.05) Banana (0.35)

15. CONT..
15
Table 4. Mean and Range of HMs in Vegetables
HMs
Range
(mg/kg)
Mean
(mg/kg)
Lowest
(mg/kg)
Highest
(mg/kg)
Cr 0.63 - 5.59 2.60 Potato (2.19) Onion (2.73)
Ni 4.40 - 55.99 33.42 Tomato (22.64) L. Finger (44.73)
Zn 3.12 - 18.04 9.78 Potato (5.45) L. Finger (14.95)
As 0.05 - 0.87 0.17 Pea (0.12) Onion (0.25)
Cd 0.03 - 0.47 0.14 Onion (0.05) L. Finger (0.27)
Pb 0.05 - 1.10 0.38 Tomato (0.11) L. Finger (0.57)

16. CONT..
16
Table 5. Mean and Range of HMs in Cereal Crops
HMs
Range
(mg/kg)
Mean
(mg/kg)
Lowest
(mg/kg)
Highest
(mg/kg)
Cr 0.72 - 10.11 2.48 Kidney bean (2.04) Rice Begamai (3.17)
Ni 2.35 - 43.09 19.47 Chick peas (12.34) Rice Begamai (27.16)
Zn 4.62 - 22.68 13.65 Rice Sela (7.64) Chick peas (19.27)
As 0.04 - 1.17 0.28 Kidney bean (0.06) Rice Begamai (0.52)
Cd 0.02 - 0.54 0.09 Chick peas (0.06) Rice Begamai (0.16)
Pb 0.09 - 0.56 0.29 Rice Sela (0.26) Kidney bean (0.33)

17. CONT..
Fruits, %age > Permissible Limits
HMs Permissible limit*
mg/kg
%age
Fruits Vegetables Cereal crops
Cr 2.3 54% 53% 37%
Ni 66.9 ----- ----- -----
Zn 9.4 50% 43% 62%
As 0.1 45% 80% 70%
Cd 0.1 04% 46% 25%
Pb 0.3 50% 63% 25%
* Permissible Limit set by FAO/WHO (2001) 17
Table 6. Exceeded concentration %age from permissible limit.

18. CONT..
18
Figure 2. The graph shows the concentration of heavy metal in different foodstuffs.

19. DMI AND HRI (Fruits)
19
The DMI of HMs in order of Ni > Zn > Cr > Pb > As > Cd for adult,
and Ni > Zn > Cr > Pb > As > Cd for children.
The HRI of HMs in order of Ni > As > Cd > Zn > Pb > Cr for adult,
and Ni > As > Cd > Zn > Pb > Cr for children.

20. DMI AND HRI (Vegetables)
20
The DMI of HMs in order of Ni > As > Zn > Cr > Pb > Cd for adult,
and Ni > Zn > Cr > Pb > As > Cd children.
The HRI of HMs in order of Ni > Cd > As > Zn > Pb > Cr for adult,
and Ni > As > Cd > Zn > Pb > Cr for children.

21. DMI AND HRI (Cereal Crops)
21
The DMI of HMs in order of Ni > Zn > Cr > Pb > As > Cd for adult
and Ni > Zn > Cr > Pb > As > Cd for children.
The HRI of HMs in order of Ni > As > Cd > Zn > Pb > Cr for adult
and Ni > As > Cd > Zn > Pb > Cd for children.

22. CONT..
22
The HRI of As in rice (begamai) were greater than 1 (HRI > 1)
both for the adult and children.
The HRI of As (HRI > 1) were indicated the potential health risk
for human consumption.

23. CONCLUSION
The concentration of HMs in some samples exceeds the permissible
limit.
The HRI values of all HMs were below 1 (HRI < 1) except As.
The HRI of As was greater than 1 (HRI > 1) in rice (begamai) for both
adult and children.
The health risk assessment of As in rice (begamai) were indicated the
potential risk for human health.
23

24. RECOMMENDATIONS
Guidelines for young researchers and agriculture department to
explore this area for further research.
To improve the agricultural practices and monitored the agriculture
fields.
To analyze the foodstuffs for heavy metals before marketed at
national and international level.
24

25. REFERENCES
 Jan, A. F.; Ishaq, M.; Khan, S.; Ihsanullah, I.; Ahmad, I.; Shakirullah, M. A comparative study of human health
risks via consumption of food crops grown on wastewater irrigated soil (Peshawar) and relatively clean water
irrigated soil (lower Dir). J. Hazard. Mater. 2010, 179, 612–621.
 Khan, K.; Lu, Y.; Khan, H.; Ishtiaq, M.; Khan, S.; Waqas, M.; Wei, L.; Wang, T. Heavy metals in agricultural soils
and crops and their health risks in Swat District, northern Pakistan. Food Chem. Toxicol. 2013a, 58, 449–458.
 Khan, K.; Lu, Y.; Khan, H.; Zakir, S.; Ihsanullah, Khan, S., Khan, A.A.; Wei, L.; Wang, T. Health risks associated
with heavy metals in the drinking water of Swat, northern Pakistan. J. Environ. Sci.(China) 2013b, 25(10), 1–10.
 Shah, M. T.; Ara, J.; Muhammad, S.; Khan, S.; Tariq, S. Health risk assessment via surface water and sub-surface
water consumption in the mafic and ultramafic terrain, Mohmand agency, northern Pakistan. J. Geochem. Explor.
2012, 118, 60 - 67.
 USEPA. 2005. Guidelines for carcinogen risk assessment, EPA/630/P- 03/001F. Risk Assessment Forum,
Washington, DC
 USEPA. 2012. Integrated risk information system (IRIS). Available at: http://www.epa.gov/IRIS/ [accessed August
2012].
25

26. 26

27. 27