Heavy metals contamination and health risk assessment of crops in the piedmont of Qinling Mountains

Based on field work and experiments analysis, the pollution characteristics of heavy metals of crops in the piedmont of Qinling Mountains are studied. The paper assessed the harm of heavy metals (Pb, Cd, Cr) in crop seeds on public health using United States Environmental Protection Agency(USEPA) health risk assessment model. The results showed that (1)the corn and rice are contaminated by Pb, with the content of Pb in crop seeds exceeded the maximum levels of contaminants in foods; (2) the health risk of Cr and Cd in corn to the individual person per year caused 91.6% and 8.34% chemical carcinogens, and the health risk of Cr and Cd in rice to the individual person per year caused 77.2% and 22.8% chemical carcinogens. The health risk of personal annual risk in rice were significantly 5.44 times higher than the maximum allowance levels recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection(ICRP)(5×10
⁻⁵
a
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). The health risk of personal annual risk in corn and rice is mostly root in the chemical carcinogens heavy metals.