Abstract
To investigate the complex Pb-Cd exposure network in school-going children, a thorough investigation of the probable exposure means (diet, water, and school micro-environments such as paint dust and school courtyard soil) and exposure route (ingestion, inhalation and dermal) was carried out in a periurban area spanning three districts in southern Assam, India. Multivariate statistical analysis was carried out to understand the complex data matrices, and the health risk assessments (carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic) based on US EPA Risk Assessment models were also made. We found the median values to be 0.9–4.0 mg Pb/kg and 0.21–6.2 mg Cd/kg in various food items. Groundwater also had Pb (0.13–0.48 mg/L) and Cd (0.11–0.29 mg/L). Pb levels in paint dust were within the permissible limits, but 50% of the samples had higher than permissible levels of Cd. Approximately 23% of the school courtyard soil had Pb above the global background levels, but all the samples had 4–27 times elevated levels of Cd in them. School micro-environment contributed significantly to the metal load in children due to their typical hand-to-mouth behavior and dietary intake (food and water) via ingestion was the most prominent route of exposure in children. The evaluation of the estimated chronic daily intake and the hazard quotient indicated hazardous exposure over a lifetime to both Pb and Cd, but only Cd posed a prominent cancer risk. It could be concluded that chronic insidious effects of metals would be a noteworthy toxicological threat to children when exposed early on.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article (and its supplementary information files).
References
Aendo P, Thongyuan S, Songserm T, Tulayakul P (2019) Carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risk assessment of heavy metals contamination in duck eggs and meat as a warning scenario in Thailand. Sci Total Environ 689:215–222. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.06.414
Apanpa-Qasim AF, Adeyi AA, Mudliar SN, Raghunathan K, Thawale P (2016) Examination of lead and cadmium in water-based paints marketed in Nigeria. J Health Pollut 6:43–49. https://doi.org/10.5696/2156-9614-6.12.43
ATSDR (2007) Toxicological profile for lead, vol 1. US Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Atlanta, GA
ASTDR (2008) Toxicological profile for cadmium. US Department of Health and Human Services, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Atlanta, GA
Awasthi SK (2000) Prevention of food adulteration Act No. 37 of 1954, Central and State rules as amended for 1999. Ashoka Law House, New Delhi
Bannon DI, Portnoy ME, Olivi L, Lees PS, Culotta VC, Bressler JP (2002) Uptake of lead and iron by divalent metal transporter 1 in yeast and mammalian cells. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 295:978–984. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0006-291X(02)00756-8
BIS (2012) Bureau of Indian Standards: drinking water—specification (second revision). ICS 13(060):20
Bhuyan PC, Goswami C, Kakati BK (2017) Study of fish consumption patterns in Assam for development of market-driven strategies. Res J Chem Environ Sci 5:42–52
Bishak YK, Payahoo L, Osatdrahimi A, Nourazarian A (2015) Mechanisms of cadmium carcinogenicity in the gastrointestinal tract. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev 16:9–21. https://doi.org/10.7314/APJCP.2015.16.1.9
Canaz E, Kilinc M, Sayar H, Kiran G, Ozyurek E (2017) Lead, selenium and nickel concentrations in epithelial ovarian cancer, borderline ovarian tumor and healthy ovarian tissues. J Trace Elem Med Biol 43:217–223. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtemb.2017.05.003
Cao S, Duan X, Zhao X, Wang B, Ma J, Fan D, Sun C, He B, Wei F, Jiang G (2015) Health risk assessment of various metal (loid) s via multiple exposure pathways on children living near a typical lead-acid battery plant. China Environ Pollut 200:16–23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2015.02.010
Chen H, Lu X, Li LY (2014) Spatial distribution and risk assessment of metals in dust based on samples from nursery and primary schools of Xi'an, China. Atmos Environ 88:172–182. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2014.01.054
Commission Regulation (EU) 2016/217 of 16 February 2016. Amending Annex XVII to Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) as regards cadmium
Das S, Choudhury SS (2016) Analysis of heavy metals from water, sediment, and tissues of Labeo angra (Hamilton, 1822), from an Ox-box lake-an wetland site from Assam, India. J Environ Sci Health Part A 51:21–33. https://doi.org/10.1080/10934529.2015.1079102
Dwivedi D, Jain M, Jain S (2013) An association between maternal lead and cadmium levels and birth weight of the babies in North Indian population. Open J Obst Gynecol 3:331–336. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojog.2013.33061
Feki-Tounsi M, Hamza-Chaffai A (2014) Cadmium as a possible cause of bladder cancer: a review of accumulated evidence. Environ. Sci Pollut Res Int 21:10561–10573. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-2970-0
The Gazette of India (2016) Ministry Of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Notification. Regulation of lead contents in household and decorative paints rules, 201, November 1. http://egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/2016/172451.pdf. Accessed 19 May 2020
Giri S, Singh AK (2014) Assessment of human health risk for heavy metals in fish and shrimp collected from Subarnarekha River, India. Int J Environ Health Res 24:429–449. https://doi.org/10.1080/09603123.2013.857391
Giri S, Singh AK (2017) Heavy metals in eggs and chicken and the associated human health risk assessment in the mining areas of Singhbhum copper belt, India. Arch Environ Occup Health 74:161–170. https://doi.org/10.1080/19338244.2017.1407284
Himeno S, Yanagiya T, Fujishiro H (2009) The role of zinc transporters in cadmium and manganese transport in mammalian cells. Biochimie 91:1218–1222. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biochi.2009.04.002
Itoh H, Iwasaki M, Sawada N, Takachi R, Kasuga Y, Yokoyama S, Onuma H, NishimuraH KR, Yokoyama K, Tsugane S (2014) Dietary cadmium intake and breast cancer risk in Japanese women: a case–control study. Int J Hyg Environ Health 217:70–77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheh.2013.03.010
JECFA (1987) Toxicological evaluation of certain food additives and contaminants. WHO Food Additives Series, No. 21, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
JECFA (2011) Evaluation of certain food additives and contaminants. Seventy-third Report. WHO Technical Report Series, No. 960World Health Organization, Geneva
Jung KY, Lee K-L, Im TH, Lee IJ, Kim S, Han K-Y, Ahn JM (2016) Evaluation of water quality for the Nakdong River watershed using multivariate analysis. Environ Technol Innov 5:67–82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eti.2015.12.001
Kabata-Pendias A (2011) Trace elements in soils and plants, 4th edn. CRC Press, Boca Raton
Kippler M, Tofail F, Hamadani JD, Gardner RM, Grantham-McGregor SM, Bottai M, Vahter M (2012) Early-life cadmium exposure and child development in 5-year-old girls and boys: a cohort study in rural Bangladesh. Environ Health Perspect 120:1462–1468. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1104431
Kumar M, Ramanathan AL, Tripathi R, Farswan S, Kumar D, Bhattacharya P (2017) A study of trace element contamination using multivariate statistical techniques and health risk assessment in groundwater of Chhaprola Industrial Area, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, India. Chemosphere 166:135–145. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2016.09.086
Kumar A, Malyan SK, Kumar SS, Dutt D, Kumar V (2019) An assessment of trace element contamination in groundwater aquifers of Saharanpur, Western Uttar Pradesh, India. Biocatal Agric Biotechnol 20:101213. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bcab.2019.101213
Li Z, Ma Z, Jan van der Kuijp T, Yuan Z, Huang L (2014) A review of soil heavy metal pollution from mines in China: pollution and health risk assessment. Sci Total Environ 468–469:843–853. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.08.090
Lin M, Gui H, Wang Y, Peng W (2017) Pollution characteristics, source apportionment, and health risk of heavy metals in street dust of Suzhou, China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 24:1987–1998. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-7934-0
Liu X, Song Q, Tang Y, Li W, Xu J, Wu J, Wang F, Brookes PC (2013a) Human health risk assessment of heavy metals in soil–vegetable system: a multi-medium analysis. Sci Total Environ 463:530–540. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.06.064
Liu J, Li L, Wang Y, Yan C, Liu X (2013b) Impact of low blood lead concentrations on IQ and school performance in Chinese children. PLoS One 8:e65230. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0065230
Liu Z, Cai L, Liu Y, Chen W, Wang Q (2019) Association between prenatal cadmium exposure and cognitive development of offspring: a systematic review. Environ Pollut 254:113081. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2019.113081
Mao C, Song Y, Chen L, Ji J, Li J, Yuan X, Yang Z, Ayoko GA, Frost RL, Theiss F (2019) Human health risks of heavy metals in paddy rice based on transfer characteristics of heavy metals from soil to rice. Catena 175:339–348. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2018.12.029
Margenat A, Matamoros V, Díez S, Cañameras N, Comas J, Bayona JM (2019) Occurrence and human health implications of chemical contaminants in vegetables grown in peri-urban agriculture. Environ Int 124:49–57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2018.12.013
Markowitz M (2000) Lead Poisoning. Pediatr Rev 21:327–335. https://doi.org/10.1542/pir.21-10-327
McCarty MF (2012) Zinc and multi-mineral supplementation should mitigate the pathogenic impact of cadmium exposure. Med Hypotheses 79:642–648. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mehy.2012.07.043
Mohammadi AA, Zarei A, Majidi S, Ghaderpoury A, Hashempour Y, Saghi MH, Alinejad A, Yousefi M, Hosseingholizadeh N, Ghaderpoori M (2019) Carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic health risk assessment of heavy metals in drinking water of Khorramabad, Iran. MethodsX 6:1642–1651. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mex.2019.07.017
Mudur G (2005) India has some of the highest cancer rates in the world. BMJ 330:215. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.330.7485.215-c
NAPEP (2017) National Action Plan for Egg & Poultry-2022 for doubling farmers’ income by 2022. Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India. http://www.dahd.nic.in/sites/default/filess/Seeking%20Comments%20on%20National%20Action%20Plan-%20Poultry-%202022%20by%2012-12-2017.pdf. Accessed 12 June 2020.
Phukan RK, Ali MS, Chetia CK, Mahanta J (2001) Betel nut and tobacco chewing; potential risk factors of cancer of oesophagus in Assam, India. Br J Cancer 85:661–667. https://doi.org/10.1054/bjoc.2001.1920
Qian Y, Chen C, Zhang Q, Li Y, Chen Z, Li M (2010) Concentrations of cadmium, lead, mercury and arsenic in Chinese market milled rice and associated population health risk. Food Control 21:1757–1763. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2010.08.005
Rajadhyaksha M (2014) Indian kids spend too much time at school? The Times of India. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/education/news/Indian-kids-spend-too-much-time-at-school/articleshow/28452277.cms. Accessed 22 June 2020.
Rehman ZU, Khan S, Brusseau ML, Shah MT (2017) Lead and cadmium contamination and exposure risk assessment via consumption of vegetables grown in agricultural soils of five-selected regions of Pakistan. Chemosphere 168:1589–1596. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2016.11.152
Roberts TL (2014) Cadmium and phosphorous fertilizers: the issues and the science. Process Eng 83:52–59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2014.09.012
Schoeters G, Hond ED, Zuurbier M, Naginiene R, Van den Hazel P, Stilianakis N, Ronchetti R, Koppe RJ (2006) Cadmium and children: exposure and health effects. Acta Paediatr 95:50–54. https://doi.org/10.1080/08035320600886232
Searle B, Chan W, Jensen C, Davidow B (1969) Determination of the lead in paint scrapings by atomic absorption. Atomic Absorp Newsletter 8:126–127
Sharafi K, Yunesian M, Nodehi RN, Mahvi AH, Pirsaheb M (2019) A systematic literature review for some toxic metals in widely consumed rice types (domestic and imported) in Iran: human health risk assessment, uncertainty and sensitivity analysis. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 176:64–75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2019.03.072
Sharma RK, Agrawal M, Marshall FM (2008) Heavy metal (Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb) contamination of vegetables in urban India: a case study in Varanasi. Environ Pollut 154:254–263. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2007.10.010
Shi Z, Carey M, Meharg C, Williams PN, Signes-Pastor AJ, Triwardhani EA, Pandiangan FI, Campbell K, Elliott C, Marwa EM, Jiujin X (2020) Rice grain cadmium concentrations in the global supply-chain. Expos Health 12:869–876. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12403-020-00349-6
Shrestha S, Kazama F (2007) Assessment of surface water quality using multivariate statistical techniques: a case study of the Fuji river basin, Japan. Environ. Modell Softw 22:464–475. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2006.02.001
Swaminathan S, Rajkumar H, Pandey A, Kassebaum NJ, Laxmaiah A, Longvah T, Lodha R, Ramji S, Kumar GA, Afshin A, Gupta SS, Kar A, Khera AK, Mathai M, Awasthi S, Rasaily R, Varghese CM, Millear AI, Manguerra H, Gardner WM, Sorenson R, Sankar MJ, Purwar M, Furtado M, Bansal PG, Barber R, Chakma JK, Chalek J, Dwivedi S, Fullman N, Ginnela BN, Glenn SD, Godwin W, Gonmei Z, Gupta R, Jerath SG, Kant R, Krish V, Kumar RH, Ladusingh S, Meshram II, Mutreja P, Nagalla B, Nimmathota A, Odell CM, Olsen HE, Pati A, Pickering B, Radhakrishna KV, Raina N, Rankin Z, Saraf D, Sharma RS, Sinha A, Varanasi B, Shekhar C, Bekedam HJ, Reddy KS, Lim SL, Hay SI, Dandona R, Murray CJL, Toteja GS, Dandona L (2019) The burden of child and maternal malnutrition and trends in its indicators in the states of India: the Global Burden of Disease Study 1990–2017. Lancet Child Adol Health 3:855–870. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2352-4642(19)30273-1
Tiwari KK, Singh NK, Patel MP, Tiwari MR, Rai UN (2011) Metal contamination of soil and translocation in vegetables growing under industrial wastewater irrigated agricultural field of Vadodara, Gujarat, India. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 74:1670–1677. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2011.04.029
Ture M, Kilic MB, Altinok I (2020) Relationship between heavy metal accumulation in fish muscle and heavy metal resistance genes in bacteria isolated from fish. Biol Trace Elem Res. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-020-02246-0
Turner A, Kearl ER, Solman KR (2016) Lead and other toxic metals in playground paints from South West England. Sci Total Environ 544:460–466. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.11.078
UNEP/WHO (2012) Global Alliance To eliminate lead paint. United Nations Environment Program and World Health Organization. https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/14175/Annotated_Provisional_Agenda_UNEP_WHO_GAELP2_final.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y. Accessed 12 June 2020
US EPA (1997) Exposure Factors Handbook (Final Report) EPA/600/P-95/002F A-c, 1997. EPA, Washington, DC
US EPA (2001) Risk Assessment Guidance for Superfund: Volume III - Part A, Process for Conducting Probabilistic Risk Assessment. US environmental protection agency [EPA 540-R-02-002], Washington, DC
US EPA (2011a) Screening level (RSL) for chemical contaminant at super-found sites. http://www.epa.gov/regshwmd/risk/human/Index.htm. Accessed 12 June 2020
US EPA (2011b) Regional screening tables. http://www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/risk/human/rb-concentration_table/index.htm. Accessed 12 June 2020
Vainio H, Bianchini F, Heseltine E (2002) Breast Cancer Screening: IARC Handbooks of Cancer Prevention. IARC Press, Lyon
WHO (1998) Health guideline for the use of wastewater in agriculture, report of WHO Science Group. World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland. Technical Report Series 778
WHO/FAO (2003) Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives and Contaminants. World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
Yang Y, Zhang FS, Li HF, Jiang RF (2009) Accumulation of cadmium in the edible parts of six vegetable species grown in Cd-contaminated soils. J Environ Manag 90:1117–1122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2008.05.004
Yu-jun Y, Zhifeng Y, Shanghong Z (2011) Ecological risk assessment of heavy metals in sediment and human health risk assessment of heavy metals in fishes in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River Basin. J Environ Pollut 159:2575–2585. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2011.06.011
Zwolak A, Sarzyńska M, Szpyrka E, Stawarczyk K (2019) Sources of soil pollution by heavy metals and their accumulation in vegetables: a review. Water Air Soil Pollut 230:164. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-019-4221-y
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Suchismita Das: Conceptualization; methodology; data analysis; writing, reviewing and editing; and overall supervision. Akan Barhai, Moumita Nath, Agniv Laskar, Satabdi Deb Roy, Swarupa Deb, and Atiya Parveen Choudhury: Carrying out field and laboratory work.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethics approval and consent to participate
Not applicable.
Consent for publication
Not applicable.
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Additional information
Responsible Editor: Lotfi Aleya
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
ESM 1
(DOCX 20 kb)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Das, S., Nath, M., Laskar, A.K. et al. Lead and cadmium exposure network in children in a periurban area in India: susceptibility and health risk. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 28133–28145 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-12608-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-12608-3