This study was carried out to assess the extent of heavy metals and metalloid accumulation from agricultural soils to foodstuffs (viz, M. esculenta (cassava) and Musa paradisiaca (plantain)) around thirteen neighboring communities within Tarkwa, Ghana; and to estimate the human health risk associated with consumption of these foodstuffs. Concentrations of As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn were measured with an inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer and mercury analysis was done using a mercury analyzer. From the results, 30% of cassava samples collected, contained higher concentrations of Pb when compared to Codex Alimentarius Commission standard values. Bioconcentration factor indicated that Ni had higher capacity of absorption into food crops from soil than the other heavy metals. For both children and adults, the target hazard quotient (THQ) of Pb in cassava in communities such as Techiman, Wangarakrom, Samahu, and Tebe (only children) were greater than 1, which is defined as an acceptable risk value. This indicated that residents could be exposed to significant health risks associated with cassava consumption.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph120808811 | DOI Listing |
PLoS One
December 2024
Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine (Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine), Guangdong Provincial Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, China.
Background: Further evidence is required regarding the influence of metal mixture exposure on mortality. Therefore, we employed diverse statistical models to evaluate the associations between eight urinary metals and the risks of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality.
Methods: We measured the levels of 8 metals in the urine of adults who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 1999 to 2018.
PLoS One
December 2024
Department of Molecular Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, United States of America.
Environmental contamination can have lasting impacts on surrounding communities, though the long-term impacts can be difficult to ascertain. The disaster at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant in 1986 and subsequent remediation efforts resulted in contamination of the local environment with radioactive material, heavy metals, and additional environmental toxicants. Many of these are mutagenic in nature, and the full effect of these exposures on local flora and fauna has yet to be understood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPLoS One
December 2024
College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska, United States of America.
The capacity for a non-native species to become invasive largely hinges on existing dispersal capacity or adaptation of dispersal in new environments. Here we provide early evidence that invasive Northern Pike (Esox lucius), a Holarctic freshwater top predator, illegally introduced in the late 1950s into Southcentral Alaska, are now dispersing through estuarine corridors. This finding represents the first known documentation of estuary use and dispersal by Northern Pike in North America, exacerbating conservation concerns for already depressed populations of culturally and economically important species such as salmonids.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVet Res Commun
December 2024
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sicilia, via Gino Marinuzzi 3, Palermo, 90129, Italy.
Heavy metals and metalloids are increasingly recognised as a threat to avian health, especially in species at the top of the food chain such as vultures. Griffon Vultures (Gyps fulvus) are ideal bioindicators for studying environmental contamination due to their scavenging habits and territorial behavior. In this study, we analysed the concentrations of six trace elements (Cd, Pb, Cr, Sb, Ni, and Cu) in feathers, pectoral plumage, and blood samples of Griffon Vultures from a captive environment in Sicily, Southern Italy, using an ICP-MS method.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMikrochim Acta
December 2024
Faculty of Life Science and Technology, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, 650500, People's Republic of China.
A novel copper and iron doped containing chitosan and heparin sodium carbon dots (CS-Cu,Fe/HS) nanozyme was formulated through a single-step microwave digestion method. CS-Cu,Fe/HS exhibits excellent peroxidase (POD)-like activity and positive charge characteristics, and it can oxidize the negatively charged 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) in the presence of HO to produce a green compound (ox-ABTS). Furthermore, CS-Cu,Fe/HS enhances electron transfer and provides additional active sites through the valence state transformations of Fe/Fe and Cu/Cu.
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