heavy metal guidelines

It is crucial to establish appropriate background concentrations to discern heavy metal pollution in the marine environment. In this study, we analyzed heavy metals in deep-sea sediment cores to determine regional background concentrations at the East-Sea Byeong Ocean dumping site. The vertical profiles of heavy metals were categorized into three groups based on their contamination characteristics, and regional background levels for 12 metals were determined using pre-1900 averages. The enrichment factor, contamination factor, and pollution load index, calculated using regional background concentrations, indicated significant contamination by Cr, Co, Cu, Zn, Cd, Hg, and Pb during the ocean dumping period...

The application of sewage sludge to agricultural land is facing increasing restrictions due to concerns about various micropollutants, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), dioxins and furans (PCDD/Fs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and heavy metals (HMs). As an alternative approach to manage this residue, the use of pyrolysis, a process that transforms sludge into biochar, a carbon-rich solid material, is being explored. Despite the potential benefits of pyrolysis, there is limited data on its effectiveness in removing micropollutants and the potential presence of harmful elements in the resulting biochar...

The present study portrays an association between particle-bound transition metals and children's health. The indoor air quality of the urban metropolitan city households was monitored for four PM sizes, namely PM1.0-2.5 , PM0.50-1.0 , PM0.25-0.50 and PM<0.25 , in major seasons observed in the city; summer and winter. Further transition/heavy metals, viz. Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn, were analysed in PM1-2.5 samples. In order to evaluate the effect, health risk assessment was performed using mathematical and computational model for assessing dermal exposure and dose estimation (multiple path particle dosimetry model version3...

BACKGROUND: Nail salon technicians are susceptible to potential exposure to a diverse array of hazardous chemicals in the form of dust or vapors. One of the main routes of exposure is dermal contact. OBJECTIVE: The aim of present study was to health risk assessment of dermal exposure to heavy dust containing heavy metals in nail salon technicians. METHODS: Dust sampling was done on the work surface of 20 available nail salon technicians. The concentration of five metals including cadmium, lead, chromium, nickel, and manganese were determined using ICP-MS...

Biochar (BC) has been substantiated to effectively reduce the available content of heavy metals (HMs) in soil-plant system; however, the risk of biochar (BC)derived dissolved organic matter (DOM) induced metal vertical migration has not been well documented, especially in the long-term field conditions. Therefore, this study investigated HM vertical migration ecological risks and the long-term effectiveness of the amendment of biochar in the three successive years of field trials during the rotation system...

Municipal solid waste incineration fly ash (MSWI FA) is a kind of hazardous waste that contains a substantial amount of heavy metals. To facilitate the appropriate treatment of MSWI FA, the leaching behavior of heavy metals was evaluated in MSWI FA from various sources using different leaching methods. Nine kinds of MSWI FA were investigated using three kinds of batch leaching tests (TCLP, HJ/T 300, and EN12457-2). The chemical form distributions of heavy metals in MSWI FA were obtained by sequential extraction procedures (SEPs) and the environmental risk posed by MSWI FA was comprehensively evaluated...

Heavy metals (HMs) contamination of water bodies severely threatens human and ecosystem health. There is growing interest in the use of duckweeds for HMs biomonitoring and phytoremediation due to their fast growth, low cultivation costs, and excellent HM uptake efficiency. In this review, we summarize the current state of knowledge on duckweeds and their suitability for HM biomonitoring and phytoremediation. Duckweeds have been used for phytotoxicity assays since the 1930s. Some toxicity tests based on duckweeds have been listed in international guidelines...

Superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) are a class of polymers that have attracted tremendous interest due to their multifunctional properties and wide range of applications. The importance of this class of polymers is highlighted by the large number of publications, including articles and patents, dealing with the use of SAPs for various applications. Within this framework, this review provides an overview of SAPs and highlights various key aspects, such as their history, classification, and preparation methods, including those related to chemically or physically cross-linked networks, as well as key factors affecting their performance in terms of water absorption and storage...

This study assessed pollution levels, ecological and health risk, and spatial distribution of eight heavy metals in sediments of Big Giftun and Abu Minqar Islands, Red Sea, Egypt. Iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn) had the highest contents in both island sediments, while cobalt (Co) in Big Giftun and cadmium (Cd) in Abu Mingar had the lowest values. The obtained PCA data exhibited positively significant loadings of Cd, Co, copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), and zinc (Zn) with 51.03 % of data variance in Big Giftun, and lead (Pb), Cu, Mn, Ni, Zn, and Fe (37...

People can be affected by various environmental factors (e. g., odor, noise) which can lead to medical complaints or illnesses. Few adequate contact points are available for patients with suspected environmental complaints in Germany. Illustrated by the outpatient clinics for environmental medicine in Hamburg and Munich, this report shows how patients with suspected environmental medical diseases are cared for in Germany. For the exemplary presentation, the data of the environmental medicine outpatient clinics of both the university hospitals from 01...

BACKGROUND: Heavy metals in street dust are one of the most important sources of pollutants in urban areas. This urban dust can be caused by industrial activities, traffic, erosion of buildings, and fossil fuels. The aim of this systematic review is to evaluate the ecological risk of heavy metals in the dust of Iran's provinces. METHODS: This study was conducted in February 2023 in order to investigate the environmental risks associated with heavy metals associated with dust particles in Iran...

There has been increasing interest in the role of human activities in disseminating antibiotic-resistance genes (ARGs) in aquatic ecosystems. However, the influence of pollutant accumulation on anthropogenic pollutant-ARG synergistic actions is limited. This study explored the association of net cages with the propagation of anthropogenic pollutants and their consequences for influencing the enrichment of ARGs using high-throughput metagenomic sequencing. We showed that net cages could substantially impact the ecology of freshwater systems by enhancing i) ARG diversity and the tendency for ARG-horizontal gene transfer and ii) the overlap of mobile genetic elements (MGEs) with biocide-metal resistance genes (BMRGs) and ARGs...

Deep-sea mining magnifies the release of heavy metals into seawater through oxidative dissolution of seafloor massive sulfide (SMS). At present, there is little information about how the metals released into seawater might be affected by the mineral assemblages, seawater conditions, and solid percentages. Here, leaching experiments were carried out to examine the behavior of three sulfides from the Southwest Indian Ridge, under conditions that replicated deep and shallow seawater environments at three solid-liquid ratios...

Biochar (BC) has shown great potential in remediating heavy metal(loid)s (HMs) contamination in paddy fields. Variation in feedstock sources, pyrolysis temperatures, modification methods, and application rates of BC can result in great changes in its effects on HM bioavailability and bioaccumulation in soil-rice systems and remediation mechanisms. Meanwhile, there is a lack of application guidelines for BC with specific properties and application rates when targeting rice fields contaminated with certain HMs...

Electronic waste that has not been properly treated can lead to environmental contamination including of heavy metals, which can pose risks to human health. Infants, a sensitive group, are highly susceptible to heavy metals exposure. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between prenatal heavy metal exposure and infant birth outcomes in an e-waste recycling area in China. We analyzed cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), manganese (Mn), lead (Pb), copper (Cu), and arsenic (As) concentrations in 102 human milk samples collected 4 weeks after delivery...

There is limited literature on managing chronic lead exposure from non-removable sources such as lead fragments. In this case report, we present the complexities and clinical considerations involved in treating an elderly patient who sustained a comminuted knee fracture due to a gunshot wound, complicated by retained lead fragments. This case highlights the absence of comprehensive guidelines for managing chronic lead exposure when complete fragment removal is impractical. It also emphasizes the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to decision-making, while considering patient autonomy in such unique clinical scenarios...

Environmental contamination is a global challenge that impacts every aspect of ecosystem. The contaminants from anthropogenic or industrial trash continually recirculate into the environment, agricultural land, plants, livestock, and ultimately into humans by way of the food chain. After an increase in human and farmland animal deaths from illnesses due to contaminated drinking water, toxic metal water poisoning has remained a global concern. Diverse environmental and enforcement organisations have attempted to regulate the activities that serve as precursors to these heavy metals which have been proven ineffective...

Freshwater lead pollution has posed severe threat to the environment and human health, underscoring the urgent necessity for accurate and user-friendly detection methods. Herein, we introduce a novel Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR-Cas) sensor for highly sensitive Pb2+ detection. To accomplish this, we designed a dual-functional deoxyribozyme (df-DNAzyme) probe that functions as an activator for the CRISPR-Cas12a system while also recognizing Pb2+ . The df-DNAzyme probe was subsequently combined with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) to fabricate a DNAzyme/AuNP nanoprobe, facilitating the activation of CRISPR-Cas12a in a one-to-multiple manner...

Massive amount of food waste has been generated annually, posing a threat to ecological sustainability and the social economy due to current disposal methods. Urgent action is needed worldwide to convert the traditional pathway for treating food waste into a sustainable bioeconomy, as this will significantly benefit food chain management. This study explores the use of pyrolysis to produce different types of food waste biochars and investigates their adsorption capabilities for removing Cd2+ and Pb2+ in aqueous solution...

Fish as seafood is a bioindicator for chemical substances like trace metals in the water systems that accumulate in fish bodies. Fe and Zn as essential and Pb, Ni, and Cd as heavy metals were quantitatively analyzed in fish muscle samples by an atomic absorption spectrophotometer (Perkin Elmer, Model AAnalyst-700). Fe and Zn's results agreed with the food quality guidelines. Fe was the highest in the range of 2.6-9.4 in mg kg-1 . The Zn content indicates the contribution of anthropogenic agents through the food chain...