We investigated total daily intake of As by residents in Prey Veng province in the Mekong River basin of Cambodia. Groundwater (n = 11), rice (n = 11) and fingernail (n = 23) samples were randomly collected from the households and analyzed for total As by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Calculation indicated that daily dose of inorganic As was greater than the lower limits on the benchmark dose for a 0.5% increased incidence of lung cancer (BMDL0.5 equals to 3.0 μg d−1 kg−1body wt.). Moreover, positive correlation between As in fingernail and daily dose of As from groundwater and rice and total daily dose of As were found. These results suggest that the Prey Veng residents are exposed to As in groundwater. As in rice is an additional source which is attributable to high As accumulation in human bodies in the Mekong River basin of Cambodia.

Rice is a staple food and major source of nutrients, but it also bioaccumulates toxic elements. In this study, laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) was used to determine tissue-level trace metal spatial distribution in rice (Oryza sativa) seeds from the active Xikuangshan Sb mine area in China. Whole grain quantified elemental bioimages showed the highest concentration of Zn (1755 mg/kg) in the embryo andmicro zones of elevated Sb, As, Pb, Cd as high as 280, 57, 31 and 830 mg/kg, respectively on the husk/bran/endosperm tissues. Bioimages suggest that both Sb and Cd may be competing with Zn for binding sites. Both Sb(III) and Sb(V) species were detected in seeds from upstream and downstream fields indicating the presence of toxic Sb(III). Brown rice is a good source of Zn, but white rice is a safer option if rice is grown in a polluted area.

X-ray fluorescence scanners, such as the Itrax™ Core Scanner (Itrax) (Cox Analytical Systems, Mölndal, Sweden), provide high-resolution geochemical data within several hours. However, the semi-quantitative nature of these analysers has hampered their use to study pollution. This study explores Itrax’s capabilities to detect trace metals, such as Hg and Cd, in the Ría de Pontevedra harbour (NW Spain). A set of Itrax detection levels were proposed for each metal after comparison with quantitative measurements obtained from Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES) and Vapour Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (CVAAS) analyses. These quantitative data obtained after a sequential extraction were used to evaluate pollutant bioavailability and to determine metal pollution levels exhibiting Hg pollution. The reliability of inc/coh and Br/Cl ratios to assess the total organic matter variability was also evaluated. The results indicated that the Itrax is an efficient and fast option to monitor contamination, thereby avoiding laborious discrete analyses and reducing analytical cost and time.

Seventeen commercially important marine fish species were caught in Mumbai Harbor using a trawl net and evaluated using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy and ICP-OES. It was found that certain species of fish contained lower levels of all metals tested. J. elongatus and C. dussumieri had the highest levels of all 8 metals tested. The heavy metal concentrations were significantly varied within and between the studied fishes (p<0.05). However, a significant correlation among heavy metals was observed. This investigation indicated that various levels of heavy metals exist in the fish species sampled, but those concentrations are within the maximum residual levels recommended by the European Union and FAO/WHO. Therefore, fish caught in Mumbai Harbor can be considered safe for human consumption.

Suspended particulate matter (SPM) and colloidal matter (COM) in annual dry and wet deposition samples in urban Guangzhou were for the first time collected, and their trace metals were investigated by using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The deposition flux of SPM and of metal elements varied largely among the investigated seasons, and reached the maximum in spring. The correlation analysis indicated that significant correlations existed among some of the metal elements in the deposition samples. The enrichment factors (EF) of metals in COM in the deposition ranging from 79.66 to 130,000 were much higher than those of SPM ranging from 1.65 to 286.48, indicating the important role of COM. The factor analysis showed that emissions from street dust, non-ferrous metal production, and heavy fuel oil were major sources of the trace metals. Positive matrix factorization (PMF) model was used to quantitatively estimate anthropogenic source.

This study assessed the level of contamination of the topsoil by Pb, Cu, Cr, Cd and Zn and the spatial distribution of these heavy metals around a cement factory. Thirty–eight composite soil samples were collected around the cement factory and subjected to nitric–perchloric acid digestion. Total metal contents of the soil were determined by flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry (FAAS) and the data generated were analyzed statistically. Spatial mapping of the distribution of heavy metals was done through the use of Inverse Distance Weighted technique (IDW) of ArcGIS 10. The results showed that the contamination domain of Cd was in the extreme domain while Pb and Cu levels in the soil were in the severe and moderate contamination domains. Zn and Cr posed no potential environmental hazard because of their low level in the soil. The spatial mapping of the heavy metals indicated Pb and Cu enrichment of the soil not only to come from cement production activities but also from vehicular activities while Cd enrichment of the soil was mainly from the cement production. Mapping of Zn and Cr distribution showed that their enrichments in the soil were from cement production activities. From these findings, it is highly recommended that environmental auditing of the cement production line be carried out to reduce the release of pollutants. It is also important that remediation activities be carried out on the soil to reduce the levels of Cd, Pb and Cu to avert potential ecological disasters.

An investigation of abundance and solubility of metals in size–segregated particulate matter (PM) was conducted at a typical urban site during the winter between late 2011 and early 2012 in Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong. The samples were extracted by both strong acid and water, and fourteen elements including Al, Ca, Cd, Cr, Co, Cu, Fe, Pb, Mg, Mn, Mo, Ni, V, and Zn were analyzed using Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP–OES) and Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP–MS). The metals in PM showed distinctly different profiles of their distribution between coarse particles (2.5μm<dp<10μm) and PM2.5 (dp<2.5μm). The upper continental crustal enrichment factors (CEFs) of the measured metals for two particle size fractions showed that CEFs for nine of fourteen metals in PM2.5 were higher than 10 while Cd, Pb, Zn, Mn and Cu were far above 100; whereas for coarse particles, the CEFs of most elements were lower than 10, except for Cd being higher than 100. Water and acid extractable fractions of coarse PM and PM2.5 were analyzed and compared to investigate the transition metals solubility. The water extractable fraction was found to be present mainly in the fine particles, whereas more of the coarse fraction mass remained as insoluble fraction. The results from this study demonstrated large variation of water solubility of metals in urban aerosols in different size fractions and highlighted solubility as an important metric for considering the relation between metals and adverse health effects in epidemiological and toxicological studies.

A novel sorbent, chitosan-immobilized pumice, has been prepared for the sorption of As(V) from waters prior to its determination by hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry. The success of the immobilization has been checked with such characterization techniques as scanning electron microscopy, thermal gravimetric analysis, and elemental analysis. Points of zero charge of the sorbents were determined with potentiometric mass titration. Batch-type equilibration studies have shown that the novel sorbent can be employed at a wide pH range resulting in quantitative sorption (>90 %) at pH 3.0–7.0 and greater than 70 % sorption at pH >8.0. These results demonstrate the advantage of immobilizing chitosan onto pumice, because, under the same conditions, pumice displays <20 % sorption toward As(V), whereas chitosan gives approximately 90 % sorption only at pH 3.0. The validity of the method was verified through the analysis of ultrapure, bottled drinking, and tap water samples spiked with arsenate; the respective sorption percentages of 93.2 (±0.7), 89.0 (±1.0), and 80.9 (±1.3) were obtained by batch-type equilibration. Arsenic sorption was also examined in the presence of common interfering ions resulting in competing effects of PO₄ ³⁻ and NO₃ ⁻ on As(V) adsorption.

A simple, rapid, sensitive, and inexpensive dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction method was developed for the determination of trace amounts of copper by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS). N,N′-bis-(2-hydroxy-5-bromobenzyl)-2-hydroxy-1,3-diiminopropane was used as the chelating ligand. Several analytical parameters affecting the microextraction efficiency such as, sample pH, volume of extraction solvent (carbon tetrachloride), concentrations of the chelating ligand and NaCl, and sample volume were investigated and optimized. The effect of the interfering ions on the recovery of copper was also examined. Under the optimum conditions, the detection limit (3σ) was 0.75 μg L⁻¹for copper with a sample volume of 10 mL, and a preconcentration factor of 20 was achieved. The relative standard deviation (R.S.D) for ten independent determinations of a 10 μg L⁻¹solution of Cu(II) was 2.3 %. In order to verify the accuracy of the developed method, different certified reference materials (SLRS-5, QCS-19, Rice flour unpolished high level of Cd NIES 10c) were analyzed and the results obtained were in good agreement with the certified values. The proposed method was applied to tap water, river water, seawater, rice flour, and wheat flour samples. The percentage recovery values for spiked water samples were between 95.4 and 108.4.

Anthropogenic activities such as industry, agriculture, and daily life are related to metal pollution of the environment. Places known of the highest impact are fishponds where intensive fish farming is believed to input a significant amount of various elements to water. Additionally, many studies suspect wetland hunting activity of water lead pollution. The present paper aims to check if hunting is a significant source of lead (Pb) in water as well as to study the temporal trends of numerous parameters (pH, SEC, Cd, Cu, Zn, Ca, Mg, Na, K, NH4+, HCO₃⁻, SO₄²⁻, Cl⁻, NO₃⁻, F⁻) in ponds (n = 48) and inflow (n = 24) waters near Zator in southern Poland, Europe. Most concentrations were measured with ion chromatography and electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry. Lead concentrations in pond waters were low and found not to be linked with hunting activity, as well as they did not differ from the ones found in the inflow water. Moreover, it could be stated that activities led on ponds did not enrich rivers in the studied ions and elements.