A microbial fuel cell (MFC)-based microbial electrochemical sensor was developed for real-time on-line monitoring of heavy metals in water environment. The microbial electrochemical sensor was constructed with staggered flow distribution method to optimize the parameters such as external resistance value and external circulation rate. The inhibition of concentration of simulated heavy metal wastewater on voltage under optimal parameters was analyzed. The results showed that the best performance of MFC electrochemical sensor was achieved when the external resistance value was 130 Ω and the external circulation rate was 1.0 mL/min. In this case, the microbial electrochemical sensors were responsive to 1-10 mg/L Cu²⁺, 0.25-1.25 mg/L Cd²⁺, 0.25-1.25 mg/L Cr⁶⁺ and 0.25-1.00 mg/L Hg²⁺ within 60 minutes. The maximum rejection rates of the output voltage were 92.95%, 73.11%, 82.76% and 75.80%, respectively, and the linear correlation coefficients were all greater than 0.95. In addition, the microbial electrochemical sensor showed a good biological reproducibility. The good performance for detecting heavy metals by the newly developed microbial electrochemical sensor may facilitate the real-time on-line monitoring of heavy metals in water environment.
Bioelectric Energy Sources ; Electrodes ; Metals, Heavy/analysis* ; Reproducibility of Results ; Waste Water ; Water

In this study, the content of five heavy metals(Pb, Cd, As, Hg, and Cu) in 59 batches of Lonicerae Japonicae Flos(LJF) medicinal materials and pieces were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry(ICP-MS). The health risk assessment was processed using the maximum estimated daily intake(EDI), target hazard quotients(THQ), and carcinogenic risks(CR) assessment models. With reference to the limit standard for heavy metal content in LJF specified in 2020 edition of Chinese Pharmacopoeia, five batches produced in Hebei were found to contain excessive Pb, and the remaining 54 batches met the specifications, with the unqualified rate of 8.47%. Comparative analysis of heavy metal content in LJF samples from three different producing areas, namely Shandong, Henan, and Hebei showed that the levels of Pb, As, and Hg in LJF from Hebei were significantly higher than those from Henan and Shandong. The samples produced in Shandong contained the highest content of Cd. The samples from Hebei contained the highest content of Cu while those from Shandong had the lowest content of Cu. As demonstrated by health risk assessment based on the EDI, THQ and CR models, these 59 batches of LJF samples did not cause significant health hazards for the exposed population, and there was no potential non-carcinogenic or carcinogenic risk. In conclusion, a few of LJF samples contained excessive heavy metals, so some measures, including controlling production environment, cultivating management mode, and optimizing processing methods, should be taken for ensuring the medication safety of LJF.
Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; Environmental Pollution/analysis* ; Mercury/toxicity* ; Metals, Heavy/toxicity* ; Risk Assessment

OBJECTIVES: To study the association of the levels of heavy metals and trace elements during pregnancy with congenital heart defects (CHD) in offspring, and to establish a model for predicting the probability of CHD based on the levels of heavy metals and trace elements during pregnancy. METHODS: Based on the prospective birth cohort study in Gansu Provincial Maternal and Child Health Hospital in 2010-2012, a nested case-control study was conducted for the follow-up observation of 14 359 pregnant women. Among the pregnant women, 97 pregnant women whose offspring were diagnosed with CHD during follow-up were enrolled as the CHD group, and 194 pregnant women whose offspring had no CHD were selected as the control group. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry was used to measure the levels of heavy metals and trace elements in maternal blood samples and fetal umbilical cord blood samples. A multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the association between heavy metal and trace elements and CHD in offspring. A nomogram model for predicting the probability of CHD in offspring was established based on the levels of heavy metals and trace elements during pregnancy. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, the CHD group had significantly higher levels of aluminum (Al), natrium (Na), calcium (Ca), titanium (Ti), selenium (Se), strontium (Sr), stannum (Sn), stibium (Sb), barium (Ba), and thorium (Th) in maternal blood samples (P<0.05), as well as significantly higher levels of Al, zinc (Zn), magnesium (Mg), kalium (K), Ca, Ti, chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), arsenic (As), Se, Sr, argentum (Ag), cadmium (Cd), Sn, and plumbum (Pb) in umbilical cord blood (P<0.05). The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the increase in the Sb level in maternal blood was associated with the increase in the risk of CHD in offspring [adjusted odds ratio (^aOR)=4.81, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.65-14.07, P=0.004], while in umbilical cord blood, the high levels of Al (^aOR=4.22, 95%CI: 1.35-13.16, P=0.013), Mg (^aOR=8.00, 95%CI: 1.52-42.08, P=0.014), and Pb (^aOR=3.82, 95%CI: 0.96-15.23, P=0.049) were significantly associated with the risk of CHD in offspring. The levels of Al, Th, and Sb in maternal blood and levels of Al, Mg, and Pb in umbilical cord blood were included in the predictive model for CHD in offspring based on the levels of heavy metals and trace elements during pregnancy, and the calibration curve of the nomogram predictive model was close to the ideal curve. CONCLUSIONS Increases in the levels of Al, Th, Sb, Mg, and Pb during pregnancy may indicate the increase in the risk of CHD in offspring, and the nomogram predictive model based on these indices can be used to predict the probability of CHD in offspring.
Case-Control Studies ; Child ; Cohort Studies ; Female ; Heart Defects, Congenital/etiology* ; Humans ; Metals, Heavy ; Pregnancy ; Prospective Studies ; Trace Elements/analysis*

Objective: This study aimed to assess the risk of cumulative exposure to Pb, Cd, Hg, and iAs through aquatic products consumed by Chinese people. Methods: Heavy metal concentration data were obtained from the national food contamination monitoring program during 2013-2017. Consumption data were derived from the China National Food Consumption Survey in 2014 and the relative potency factor (RPF) method was used to estimate cumulative exposure for neurotoxicity and nephrotoxicity. Results: The results demonstrated that the cumulative exposure based on neurotoxicity was below the lower confidence limit on benchmark doses of lead (BMDL Conclusion The cumulative exposures of the 2-6 year-old group to the four heavy metals did not reach (but came close to) the corresponding safety threshold for both neurotoxicity and nephrotoxicity. Given that there are still other food sources of these four heavy metals, it is necessary to more closely study their cumulative health effects.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Animals ; Arsenic/analysis* ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Dietary Exposure/analysis* ; Environmental Monitoring ; Food Contamination/analysis* ; Humans ; Metals, Heavy/analysis* ; Middle Aged ; Risk Assessment ; Seafood/analysis* ; Water Pollutants, Chemical/analysis* ; Young Adult

The effects of four natural organic soil amendments on the quality and pesticide residues of Panax notoginseng were investigated through field experiments and the suitable dosage ratio of each soil amendment was selected to provide a new idea for the pollution-free cultivation of P. notoginseng. The four natural organic soil amendments used in this study were Jishibao, Jihuo, Fudujing, and omnipotent nutrients, which were produced by mixed fermentation of aboveground parts of different plants, biological waste residue, and biochar. During the experiments, only four soil amendments were applied to P. notoginseng instead of any pesticides and fertilizers. The experiment was designed as four factors and three levels. There were three dosage gradients(low, medium, and high) for Jishibao(A), Jihuo(B), Fudujing(C), and omnipotent nutrients(D). When the dosage of one soil amendment changed, the do-sage of the other soil amendments remained medium. There were 10 groups in addition to the soil amendment-free group as control(CK). The results showed that the four soil amendments could significantly improve the growth environment of P. notoginseng and increase the seedling survival rate and saponin content of P. notoginseng. The seedling survival rates of the treatment groups increased by 8.24%-30.05% as compared with the control group. Furthermore, the content of pesticide residues in P. notoginseng was too low to be detected, and that of heavy metals in P. notoginseng was far lower than the specified content in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia(2020). The optimal effect was achieved at medium dosage for all the soil amendments with the highest content of saponins, high seedling survival rate, and significantly reduced heavy metals, such as lead, cadmium, arsenic, and mercury.
Arsenic ; Metals, Heavy/analysis* ; Panax notoginseng ; Soil ; Soil Pollutants/analysis*

As an important branch of traditional medicines,medicinal marine organisms have many advantages,including biological diversity,remarkable biological activity,especial for the treatment of anti-cancer,anti-virus,anti-coagulation,analgesia,anti-bacterial,cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. In recent years,with the continuous exploration of marine organisms by human beings,many marine organisms with specific biological activities and medicinal prospects have been found,which have attracted great attention around the world and thus called " new hope" to solve human health problems. However,due to the rapid development of modern industry,heavy metal pollution not only poses a great threat to medicinal marine living resources,but also hinders the development of marine biomedical industry and threatens human health. In view of this,this paper introduced the development trend of medicinal marine organisms and the current situation of heavy metal pollution and focusing on the analysis technology and chemical removal technology of heavy metals in medicinal marine organisms,which is to provide reference for the heavy metals control in marine medicines and the development and utilization of marine medicines.
Aquatic Organisms ; China ; Environmental Monitoring ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Metals, Heavy/analysis* ; Water Pollutants, Chemical/analysis*

With the improvement of living standard,the theory of " medicine and food homology" has developed rapidly in the field of diet,medicine and health preservation. In recent years,many literatures have been reported on the active ingredients and pharmacological effects of medicinal and edible plants,but relatively few reports have been reported on their safety investigation. Therefore,to further evaluate the quality and safety of medicinal and edible plants,Astragali Radix,Codonopsis Radix and Laminariae Thallus were selected as our research objects in this study. Moreover,the pollution level and the potential health risk of heavy metals were deeply assessed in different types of medicinal and edible plants. Especially,the contents of chromium,copper,arsenic,cadmium,mercury and lead in these three herbs were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry( ICP-MS),and their health risk level was evaluated by target hazard coefficient method. The results showed that under the international heavy metal limit standard( ISO 18664-2015,GB 2762-2017),the over-standard rates were 25%,77% and 100% in 16 batches of Astragali Radix,26 batches of Codonopsis Radix and 9 batches of Laminariae Thallus,respectively. Besides,the values of target hazard quotients( THQ) for adults and children are 0. 028 244,0. 063 505 and 0. 014 485,0. 032 568 in Astragalus membranaceus and Codonopsis pilosula,respectively,which were higher than the standard values of 0. 02 and 0. 011 25. While,the total heavy metals THQ values for adults and children are 0. 023 734 and 0. 020 287 in Laminariae Thallus,which were much higher than the standard values of 0. 008 0 and 0. 007 5. However,the CR values of As,Cd and Pb in the three herbs were lower than 1×10~(-6). Above results indicated that those six harmful elements have certain health hazards to the exposed population,but there is no potential carcinogenic effect. It can be seen that,there were still presence of the pollution of harmful elements,and it is necessary to establish the reasonable limit standards and quality control methods of medicinal and edible plants in time.
Adult ; Astragalus propinquus ; Child ; Codonopsis/chemistry* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/chemistry* ; Humans ; Laminaria/chemistry* ; Metals, Heavy/analysis* ; Plant Preparations/chemistry* ; Plants, Edible/chemistry* ; Plants, Medicinal/chemistry* ; Risk Assessment

In order to comprehensively analyze the pollution level and bioaccessibility of different types of heavy metals and hazardous elements in animal medicine,this paper selected Bombyx Batryticatus as the research object,and used inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry( ICP-MS) to detect As,Cu,Hg,Pb,Ni,Cr,Zn and Cd. Based on the artificial gastrointestinal digestion model and the health risk assessment model of Chinese medicinal materials,the pollution level,in vivo and in vitro transfer rate and health risk grade of eight harmful elements in the above-mentioned medicinal materials of Bombyx Batryticatus were obtained respectively. The test result was found that under the ISO international standard of Chinese medicine-Chinese herbal medicine heavy metals,the unqualified rate was 50% for Bombyx Batryticatus,which including 2 batches of As and 4 batches of Cr exceeded the MRL. In artificial gastrointestinal digestion solution,the transfer rates of heavy metals As,Cu,Hg,Pb,Ni,Cr,Zn and Cd were 36. 849%,72. 372%,41. 152%,75. 354%,46. 603%,27. 981%,19. 707% and 76. 282%,respectively. The data of risk assessment model showed that the total THQ values of the most polluted batches for adults and children was 0. 021 548 and 0. 018 418,respectively. After digestion,the THQ values decreased to 0. 012 599 for adults and 0. 010 769 for children,which were still higher than the THQ standard values of animal medicine Bombyx Batryticatus. However,the CR value of carcinogenic risk is less than 1×10-6,so the potential non-carcinogenic risk caused by taking this batch of Bombyx Batryticatus medicines is higher and the carcinogenic risk can be ignored. To sum up,heavy metals and hazardous elements in Bombyx Batryticatus still exceed the standard,but the health risk level caused by heavy metals still needs to be investigated according to different medicinal materials,in order to provide data support for further improving the quality and safety of animal medicine.
Adult ; Animals ; Bombyx ; Child ; China ; Environmental Pollution ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Metals, Heavy/analysis* ; Risk Assessment

In order to further improve the quality and safety evaluation standards of traditional Chinese medicine compound preparation,Xiaochaihu Tang compound preparations were selected to analyze the pollution level of heavy metals deeply,and the potential health risks were evaluated under taking such kind of compound preparations. In this study,the contents of copper( Cu),arsenic( As),cadmium( Cd),mercury( Hg),and lead( Pb) in different Xiaochaihu Tang compound preparations were determinated by the method of inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry( ICP-MS). Moreover,combined with target hazard coefficient method and in vitro artificial system,the bioaccessibility and health risk level was investigated in three main consumption ways including powder,decoction and granule. The result was showed that,under the maximum residual limit set by International Standard Organization,only one batch of raw herb was eight times exceeded the Hg MRL,however,in water decoctions and granules,the heavy metal residue rate was reduced to 2. 02%( Hg in granules)-42. 85%( Cd in granules). So,the heavy metal pollutions and health risks can be reduced to safe region in spite of the serious pollution in raw herbs. Besides,the THQ and CR values of the three consumption methods were lower than the standard values of non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks of each heavy metal. It can be seen that even if the heavy metals in the raw herbs exceed the standard,the use of Xiaochaihu Tang decoction and granules can reduce the harm of heavy metals to the human body. Above all,the establishment of this health risk assessment model can be provided experimental basis and reference value for improving the safety evaluation standard of other heavy metals contained traditional Chinese medicine( TCM) compound preparations,and further improving the quality control methods of other different toxic compounds in clinical use.
China ; Drug Contamination ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/analysis* ; Environmental Pollution ; Humans ; Metals, Heavy/analysis* ; Risk Assessment

BACKGROUND: With increasing media coverage of food safety incidents, such as that of clenbuterol residues in pork, food safety has become a major public health concern in China. Rapidly developing online markets attract increasing numbers of Chinese consumers to purchase food on the Internet. However, the quality and safety of food sold online are uncertain and are less reported on. OBJECTIVE: This research aimed to systematically study the quality and safety of chilled pork from wet markets, supermarkets, and online markets in China. RESULTS: The chilled pork samples from online markets were fresher than those from wet markets and supermarkets based on the surface redness (a* value). Chilled pork contained high levels of nutritional elements, especially the magnesium and phosphorus levels in samples from online markets. The levels of heavy metal element residues and veterinary drug residues in all chilled pork samples were within the standards limits. In addition, huge differences existed in the quality and freshness of the chilled pork samples from online markets according to principal component analysis (PCA). CONCLUSIONS Most chilled pork sold in Chinese markets was qualified and safe. It is necessary to establish an effective online market supervision system for chilled pork.
Animals ; China ; Cold Temperature ; Drug Residues/analysis* ; Food Preservation/standards* ; Food Quality ; Food Safety ; Metals, Heavy/analysis* ; Principal Component Analysis ; Red Meat/standards* ; Sus scrofa ; Veterinary Drugs/analysis*