Volume 10, Issue 2 (Spring 2021)
Arch Hyg Sci 2021, 10(2): 163-170 |
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Fouladi M, Mohammadiroozbahani M, Attar Roshan S, Sabzalipour S. Health Risk Assessment and Determination of Heavy Metal Contamination in Barley Grains in Khuzestan Province, Iran. Arch Hyg Sci 2021; 10 (2) :163-170
URL: http://jhygiene.muq.ac.ir/article-1-505-en.html
URL: http://jhygiene.muq.ac.ir/article-1-505-en.html
1- Department of Environment, Ahvaz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ahvaz, Iran.
Abstract: (1496 Views)
Background & Aims of the Study: Heavy metal pollution has become a global problem, and
their entry into the food chain is considered a threat to humans and other organisms. This study
aimed to assess the risk of metals (chromium, nickel, arsenic, copper, zinc, cadmium, and lead)
in edible barley grains grown in Khuzestan Province, Iran, in 2019.
Materials and Methods: In this analytical study, five farms of edible barley grains were selected.
Then, four stations were selected in each farm. After sampling, barley seeds were prepared by
acid digestion method and read by inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry. The amount
of metal contamination in the grains was estimated by the crop pollution index based on the
classification of the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), Hazard Index (HI), and the
risk of carcinogenic risk in children and adults.
Results: The highest amounts of heavy metals in barley grains belonged to zinc and the lowest
to chromium. According to the USEPA classification, the potential non-carcinogenic risk for
children was higher than for adults, and the HI in all study areas was at level 3 for adults and
children and level 4 in some stations for children. In the case of barley samples, the average
carcinogenic risk for arsenic was 2 per 10000 people for adults and 4 per 10000 for children, and
cadmium was 1 per 10000 people for adults and 2 per 10000 for children in the population of the
province. These figures were estimated to be at a safe level.
Conclusion: Barley is one of the foods of the people of the region. The use of its contaminated
amounts due to the biological accumulation of heavy metals can create health risks for its
consumers in the long run.
their entry into the food chain is considered a threat to humans and other organisms. This study
aimed to assess the risk of metals (chromium, nickel, arsenic, copper, zinc, cadmium, and lead)
in edible barley grains grown in Khuzestan Province, Iran, in 2019.
Materials and Methods: In this analytical study, five farms of edible barley grains were selected.
Then, four stations were selected in each farm. After sampling, barley seeds were prepared by
acid digestion method and read by inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry. The amount
of metal contamination in the grains was estimated by the crop pollution index based on the
classification of the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), Hazard Index (HI), and the
risk of carcinogenic risk in children and adults.
Results: The highest amounts of heavy metals in barley grains belonged to zinc and the lowest
to chromium. According to the USEPA classification, the potential non-carcinogenic risk for
children was higher than for adults, and the HI in all study areas was at level 3 for adults and
children and level 4 in some stations for children. In the case of barley samples, the average
carcinogenic risk for arsenic was 2 per 10000 people for adults and 4 per 10000 for children, and
cadmium was 1 per 10000 people for adults and 2 per 10000 for children in the population of the
province. These figures were estimated to be at a safe level.
Conclusion: Barley is one of the foods of the people of the region. The use of its contaminated
amounts due to the biological accumulation of heavy metals can create health risks for its
consumers in the long run.
Keywords: Risk, Non-carcinogenic risk, Carcinogenicity, Heavy metals, Barley, Risk assessment, Ahvaz, Iran
Type of Study: Original Article |
Subject:
Environmental Health
Received: 2021/02/21 | Accepted: 2021/03/1 | Published: 2021/02/9
Received: 2021/02/21 | Accepted: 2021/03/1 | Published: 2021/02/9
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Published by Qom University of Medical Sciences Press
eISSN: 2322-4916
pISSN: 2251-9203
Email: arch.hygiene[at]muq.ac.ir
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