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Research article - Peer-reviewed, 2012

Assessing dietary exposure to cadmium in a metal recycling community in Vietnam: Age and gender aspects

Minh, ND; Lloyd Hough, Rupert; Le, TT; Nyberg, Ylva; Le, BM; Nguyen, CV; Nguyen, MK; Öborn, Ingrid

Abstract

This study study estimates the dietary exposure to cadmium (Cd), and associated potential health risks, for individuals living and working in a metal recycling community (n = 132) in Vietnam in comparison to an agricultural (reference) community (n = 130). Individual-level exposure to Cd was estimated through analysis of staple foodstuffs combined with information from a food frequency questionnaire. Individual-level exposure estimates were compared with published 'safe' doses to derive a Hazard Quotient (HQ) for each member of the study population. Looking at the populations as a whole, there were no significant differences in the diets of the two villages. However, significantly more rice was consumed by working age adults (18-60 years) in the recycling village compared to the reference village (p<0.001). Rice was the main staple food with individuals consuming 461 +/- 162 g/d, followed by water spinach (103 +/- 51 kg/d). Concentrations of Cd in the studied foodstuffs were elevated in the metal recycling village. Values of HQ exceeded unity for 87% of adult participants of the metal recycling community (39% had a HQ > 3), while 20% of adult participants from the reference village had an HQ > 1. We found an elevated health risk from dietary exposure to Cd in the metal recycling village compared to the reference community. WHO standard of 0.4 mg Cd/kg rice may not be protective where people consume large amounts of rice/have relatively low body weight.

Keywords

Heavy metals; Rice; Food chain contamination; Risk; Exposure

Published in

Science of the Total Environment
2012, volume: 416, pages: 164-171
Publisher: ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Authors' information

Minh, ND
Vietnamese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Lloyd Hough, Rupert
The James Hutton Institute
Le, TT
Vietnamese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Crop Production Ecology
Le, BM
National Institute of Nutrition
Nguyen, CV
Vietnamese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Nguyen, MK
Hanoi University of Science
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Crop Production Ecology

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG3 Good health and well-being
SDG12 Responsible consumption and production

UKÄ Subject classification

Environmental Sciences

Publication Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2011.11.068

URI (permanent link to this page)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/43900