The Human Health Risk of Heavy Metals Through Oral, Respiratory, and Dermal Exposure: A Case Study in a High Polluted, Abandoned Factory, in Southwest China

With economic development and technical innovation, many factories near city and adjacent suburbs are abandoned. The abandoned chemical materials, contaminated soil, and groundwater could threaten people’s health. The noncarcinogenic and carcinogenic risks of thirteen elements in soil and groundwater around an abandoned pesticide factory in southwest China were investigated. The results show as following, (1) the hazard indexes of heavy metals in soil were 0.409 for adults and 1.315 for children, the exposed children were suffering the adverse health effects. The carcinogenic risk of soil for both adults and children were acceptable. (2) in groundwater, both noncarcinogenic and carcinogenic risk for children and adults were unacceptable. The carcinogenic risk of Ni and As in groundwater were 3.42 × 10^–3 and 1.21 × 10^–4, which were greater than the marginal value posing health effects (1 × 10^–4). (3) For both soil and groundwater, the element of Mn was the major contributor to noncarcinogenic risk, with 84.1% for children and 61.3% for adults. Via oral ingestion, health risk index was 1.38 for adults and 1.11 for children. Health risk index value through respiratory and dermal contact for children were respectively 1.26 and 0.82, and that for adults were respectively 0.49 and 0.28. Oral ingestion and respiratory were the major pathways to threaten people’s health.

Graphical Abstract