Temporal dynamics of arsenic uptake and distribution: food and water risks in the Bengal basin

Abstract

Contaminated food chain is a serious contender for arsenic (As) uptake around the globe. In Nadia, West Bengal, we trace possible means of transfer of As from multiple sources reaching different trophic levels, and associated seasonal variability leading to chronic As uptake. This work considers possible sources-pathways of As transfer through food chain in rural community. Arsenic concentration in groundwater, soil, rice, and vegetable-samples collected detected in different harvest seasons of 2014 and 2016. Arsenic level in shallow groundwater samples ranged from 0.1 to 354?µg/L, with 75% of the sites above the prescribed limit by WHO (10?µg/L) during the boro harvest season. High soil As content (～20.6?mg/kg), resulted in accumulation of As in food crops. A positive correlation in As conc. with increase over period in all sites indicating gradual As accumulation in topsoil. Unpolished rice samples showed high As content (～1.75?mg/kg), polishing reduced 80% of As. Among vegetables, the plant family Poaceae with high irrigation requirements and Solanaceae retaining high moisture, have the highest levels of As. Contaminated animal fodder (Poaceae) and turf water for cattle are shown to contaminate milk (0.06 to 0.24?µg/L) and behoves strategies, practices to minimize As exposure.     

Benefits of large broods by higher chick survival and better territories in a precocial shorebird

When reproductive success is constant in one breeding phase, different tactics that increase variation in reproductive success among individuals may evolve in other phases. For instance, in shorebirds, which usually have a limited clutch size of four eggs, variation in reproductive tactics among individuals is expected either before egg-laying (e.g. diverse mating systems) or after hatching of the young (e.g. diverse parental care). In this paper, I studied the pied avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta), a shorebird with a modal clutch size of four eggs, to test whether post-hatch chick adoption as an alternative tactic can be linked to increased variation in annual reproductive success. When predation was high, naturally adopting pairs produced more filial fledglings than did pairs not adopting chicks and not losing chicks to adoption. The number of filial fledglings increased with the number of adopted young, possibly through diluting the chances of predation on filial young. Experimental chick addition did not lead to more fledged young due to low brood integrity as shown by the frequent loss of chicks from some experimental broods. When predation was low, larger broods occupied feeding territories with higher prey abundance than smaller broods, possibly due to their dominance over smaller ones. Pairs that lost chicks to adoption (donors) fledged as many filial young in their broods as did non-adopters/non-donors, whereas the total number of donors’ filial fledglings, including those raised in adopting broods, approached that of adopters. These findings show, for the first time, that post-hatch alternative reproductive tactics can lead to variation in annual reproductive success and to higher success for some pairs even in species where past adaptations limit variation in reproductive success in a certain phase of reproduction.     

论职业卫生安全管理体系标准化与我国职业卫生安全管理及其改革的一致性

职业卫生安全管理体系（ＯＨＳＭＳ）标准倡导好的管理的共同原理,将ＯＨＳＭＳ融入组织总的管理体系,与我国组织职业卫生安全（ＯＨＳ）管理的经验相容,对我国组织在市场经济体制下建立自主安全管理机制有极重要的意义。实施ＯＨＳＭＳ标准不存在经济实力的前提,且ＯＨＳ投入与组织的经济效益是一致的。这种标准化适应了我国经济体制转变时期政府安全管理职能和管理方式的变化,还与我国ＯＨＳ管理体制的改革方向相吻合。我国基本具备实施ＯＨＳＭＳ标准的法律基础。为有效实施ＯＨＳＭＳ标准化,应加强ＯＨＳ法规建设,在监察体系上实行第三方机构的认证／注册制度     

黄河下游开封段引黄灌区小麦中重金属污染特征及健康风险评价

为探究引黄灌区小麦对人体健康的影响,以黄河下游引黄灌区开封段为研究区,对其中水稻乡、柳园口乡、西郊乡和北郊乡的小麦进行采样调查,采用内梅罗综合指数法、健康风险评价模型对研究区小麦重金属污染状况及其对成人和儿童的健康风险进行评价.结果表明,研究区小麦籽粒中Cd、Cr、Pb、Cu、Zn、Ni、Hg平均含量分别为0.034、0.428、0.279、5.363、29.605、0.305和0.003 mg·kg~(-1).除Pb和Zn外,其他重金属均未超出国家食品卫生标准限制值.研究区小麦籽粒中Pb和Zn的污染指数大于1,Cd、Cr、Cu、Ni和Hg的污染指数均小于1,小麦综合污染指数为1.9851,各乡区小麦的综合污染指数介于1.116~1.847之间.非致癌重金属(Pb、Cu、Zn、Hg)对成人和儿童的健康风险指数分别为1.055 8和0.545 0;致癌重金属(Cd、Cr、Ni)对成人和儿童的健康风险指数均值均高于USEPA推荐的最大可接受风险水平1×10-4,可能存在引发癌症的风险.     

闽中某矿区县茶园土壤和茶叶重金属含量及健康风险

以闽中某矿区县茶园表层土壤（0~20cm）为研究对象,采集了25份茶园土壤样品,分析了土壤中重金属Cr、Ni、Cu、Zn、As、Pb、Cd和Co的含量,分别利用地累积指数法和潜在生态风险指数法对土壤重金属的污染现状和潜在生态风险程度进行评价;同时收集矿区茶叶企业23个商品茶样品,利用美国国家环保署（USEPA）推荐的健康风险评价模型进行人体重金属健康风险评价.结果表明：（1）矿区茶园表层土壤Cr、Ni、Cu、Zn、As、Pb、Cd和Co平均含量分别为110、23.5、23.0、107、50.7、78.0、0.23和14.3mg/kg,均明显高于福建省土壤背景值;（2）茶园土壤地累积指数（I_geo）表现为As > Cd > Cr > Pb > Zn > Co > Ni > Cu,As属于重度污染,Cd和Cr属于中度污染,其它5种重金属元素污染风险较低;（3）单项潜在生态风险系数（E）的大小顺序依次为Cd > As > Pb > Co > Ni > Cr > Cu > Zn,土壤Cd属于很强生态风险,土壤As属于较强生态风险,其余属于轻微生态风险.8种重金属综合潜在生态风险指数（RI）平均值为255.74,属于较强风险级别,Cd和As是最主要的潜在生态风险因子.（4）商品茶中重金属Cr和Cd含量均低于限量标准,个别茶样中Cu、As和Pb含量超标,说明茶叶中重金属含量总体处于安全级别;（5）健康风险评价结果表明,茶叶中重金属元素健康个人年风险总和为1.01×10^-4~9.07×10^-5,乌龙茶的个人年风险总和稍高于美国环境保护署（USEPA）推荐的最大可接受风险水平（1.0×10^-4）,红茶和绿茶低于USEPA推荐的最大可接受风险水平;茶叶中重金属元素健康风险以Cr为主,平均贡献率为90.38%,是主要的风险元素,其余重金属元素处于安全范围之内.     

兰州主城区大气颗粒物质量浓度及健康风险

分别在2013年春季3月23日~3月29日和冬季12月15日~12月21日对兰州市主城区5个采样点进行采样,每天每个采样点采集8个样品,共采集有效样品560个.通过实验室分析和重金属健康风险评价,结果显示：兰州市主城区≤ 10μm颗粒物中,主要分布在5.8~10.0μm （春、冬季）、1.1~3.3μm （春季）和0.65~3.3μm （冬季）范围内,Pb在PM_3.3~4.7（一级支气管）中的质量浓度最大,分别为0.2352ug/m³（春季）和0.2177ug/m³（冬季）,Cd作为一种致癌重金属在PM_9.0~5.8、PM_4.7~1.1均被检出.儿童、成年男性、成年女性的非致癌风险值HZ在春季和冬季分别为0.842、0.360、0.345和0.842、0.326、0.361,低于1不存在非致癌的风险,致癌风险值RIS在10^-6~10^-4的范围内,不存在致癌风险,但儿童RIS值较高,对儿童的健康状况的影响,应受到社会群体的重视.     

吉兰泰盐湖盆地地下水Cr6+、As、Hg健康风险评价

选取西北干旱区吉兰泰盐湖盆地为研究对象,系统采集71个地下水样品,测定重金属Cr⁶⁺、As、Hg,以及主要化学成分的含量,以地质统计学插值绘图揭示盐湖盆地地下水中Cr⁶⁺、As、Hg的空间分布特征,以单因子指数法、内梅罗指数法和US EPA健康风险评价模型解析地下水中Cr⁶⁺、As、Hg的污染及健康风险状况,以统计相关检验进行Cr⁶⁺、As和Hg的源分析.结果表明：盐湖盆地地下水中普遍含有Cr⁶⁺、As、Hg,Cr⁶⁺在盐湖上游及东北部含量较高,As在西南台地含量较高,Hg在西北部巴音乌拉山出现高值区域,其分布与变化受到天然因素和人类活动的双重影响;Cr⁶⁺、As出现局部区域超标,超标率分别为8.45%和2.82%;Cr⁶⁺主要超标区域在盐湖西南侧呈条块状分布,并在盐湖附近Cr⁶⁺含量较高;As以点状超标,分布于西南部和东北部;盐湖盆地地下水87.3%处于安全清洁状态,仅5.6%轻度污染出现在西南部,不存在中度和重度污染;通过饮用水途径的化学致癌物的健康风险值远高于非化学致癌物的健康风险值,西南部图格力高勒沟谷区域化学致癌物Cr⁶⁺超过了US EPA最大可接受风险,但整个盐湖盆地Cr⁶⁺的平均健康风险值低于US EPA最大可接受风险;As和Hg均低于US EPA最大可接受风险;盐湖盆地总致癌风险特征与Cr⁶⁺基本一致,Cr⁶⁺平均健康风险占总致癌风险贡献率的89%;Cr⁶⁺超标原因包括盐湖盆地高锰酸盐指数偏高,促使Cr³⁺氧化成为Cr⁶⁺,As与Cr存在一定的同源关系.     

基于PMF模型及地统计的土壤重金属健康风险定量评价

为定量评估不同土壤重金属来源带来的人体健康风险差异,选取山东省章丘市为研究区,系统采集425处土壤样品,测定As、Cd、Cr、Cu、Hg、Ni、Pb和Zn共8种土壤重金属含量,采用描述性统计特征评估土壤重金属富集状态,进一步利用受体模型正定矩阵分解法（positive matrix factorization,PMF）和地统计技术确定土壤重金属的来源及分配,最后基于重金属来源构建健康风险定量评估模型.结果表明：①表层土壤中As、Cd、Cr、Cu、Hg、Ni、Pb和Zn含量均超出背景值,但未超出农用地土壤污染风险筛选值,表明土壤重金属出现一定的富集.②土壤重金属来源可分为3类,Cr和Ni的空间分布大致相当,且与风化母岩空间分布趋势相近,为自然来源,Cd、Cu和Zn受道路运输控制为交通来源,空间分布上受道路布局影响明显,Hg、Pb和As元素含量高值区与工业区城区分布相对应,工业排放和燃煤加剧Hg在土壤中的富集,属于工业来源,其来源占比最大约为41.85%,交通来源和自然来源分别为33.79%和24.36%.③不同种元素在手口、呼吸和皮肤接触暴露途径下产生的非致癌与致癌风险处于可接受范围内,儿童最大致癌（36.53%）与非致癌风险（36.01%）的重金属来源均为工业源,而交通源是成人的最大致癌（34.98%）与非致癌风险（37.06%）来源,重金属来源和暴露途径的差异化规避是降低重金属健康风险的关键.     

Assessment of patients' medical fitness to drive by primary care physicians: A cross-sectional study

Objectives: Motor vehicle collisions (MVCs) are a significant health burden in Saudi Arabia. The literature has consistently indicated that chronic medical conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke, obstructive sleep apnea, and neurodevelopmental disorders, increase the risk of MVCs. Therefore, assessment of driver fitness by primary care physicians (PCPs) remains a major health intervention that might reduce MVCs. We studied the practices of PCPs in assessing medical fitness to drive in at-risk patients.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study of all 88 government-funded primary care centers in the city of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. We administered a self-reported questionnaire to PCPs that inquired about their driving risk assessment for specific medical conditions.

Results: Among all PCPs and centers, 189 PCPs (63%) from 74 centers (84%) participated in our survey. The mean age of the PCPs was 40 ± 10 years, and 108 (57%) were men. The average clinical experience of the group was 13 ± 9 years. Fewer than half of PCPs considered diabetes mellitus (45%) and obstructive sleep apnea (46%) as potential risks for MVCs. Approximately 45% of PCPs did not notify any authority or relatives of potential driving issues that they noticed in their patients. Only 15% of the participants believed that PCPs were responsible for alerting authorities about their fitness to drive.

Conclusions: PCPs did not adequately assess their patients' driving history and eligibility. Efforts are needed to improve awareness among PCPs regarding the effects of chronic medical conditions on driving.     

中原油田职业卫生现状及管理对策

对中原油田的职业卫生状况进行了调研,对存在的主要职业危害及防护措施进行了探讨。