大米汞污染与摄食大米甲基汞暴露研究进展

本文汇总了环境与大米汞污染的来源、汞与甲基汞对人体的健康危害、水稻对甲基汞的吸收与累积、包括大米在内的食品中汞的含量与形态分析方法、全球大米汞污染的现状,以及人群摄食大米的甲基汞暴露方面的研究进展。我国贵州和东南亚汞矿开采地区产出的大米存在严重的汞污染,且大米为当地居民的主要粮食,摄食大米给当地居民带来了严重的甲基汞暴露健康风险。未来有必要在全球更广泛地开展大米汞污染与相应的人群摄食暴露健康风险评估工作,并加强水稻对环境中汞的吸收、转运和累积机制以及这一系列过程中汞形态转化方面的研究。

Research progress in mercury pollution in rice and methylmercury exposure through rice consumption

Mercury is a global pollutant that affects human and ecosystem health. With the growing mercury pollution of the environment, pollution of rice, a staple food for more than half of the world''s population, by mercury has received widespread concern around the world. Mercury occurs in the forms of inorganic mercury and methylmercury in rice grains, both of which have significant detrimental health effects on humans (with methylmercury being more toxic). Thus, rice consumption could be an important exposure pathway for mercury, particularly methylmercury, for the population in the affected regions. This review summarizes the recent progress in research on the sources of mercury pollution in the environment and rice, health effects of inorganic mercury and methylmercury, uptake and accumulation of methylmercury in rice, analytical methods for the total content and chemical speciation of mercury in food (including rice), current status of mercury pollution of rice around the globe, and the corresponding exposure of humans to methylmercury through rice consumption. Existing studies showed that severe mercury pollution of rice has occurred in the mercury mining areas of Guizhou Province of China and in Southeast Asia countries. As rice is consumed as the staple food by local populations, significant public health risk has resulted from dietary exposure to methylmercury in the polluted rice. As a result, more research should be conducted to characterize the pollution of rice by mercury worldwide and assess the corresponding public health risk of dietary methylmercury exposure through rice consumption. In addition, it is important to strengthen research on understanding the mechanism of mercury uptake, transportation, and accumulation in rice plants and the chemical speciation of mercury during these processes.