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Arsenic in the rock–soil–plant system and related health risk in a magmatic–metamorphic belt, West of Iran

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Abstract

Following earlier reports of water contamination and arsenic (As) toxicity symptoms in residents of Kurdistan Province, As was determined in rock, soil and plant samples to investigate its fate from rock to crops and its potential effects on human health. Total As content ranged from 4.9 to 10,000 mg/kg, 7.7–430 mg/kg and < 0.05–25,079 µg/kg (dry weight) in rock, soil and plant samples, respectively. The Qorveh–Bijar region data indicated that magmatic differentiation has enriched late magmatic fluids in As. High rare earth elements concentration, dissociation coefficient, and positive Eu anomaly in volcanic rocks, indicated the prevalence of intermediate to felsic composition. The highest As concentration was measured in travertine. In soil, As average level in Qorveh and Bijar was 48.5 and 107 mg/kg, respectively. Higher pollution index and geoaccumulation index (Igeo) were also calculated for Bijar County. The As concentration in crop samples was greater than the recommended maximum permissible concentration for foodstuff. Mann–Whitney U test revealed significant differences between As concentration in different plant species and no difference between plants in Bijar and Qorveh. Also, alfalfa displayed the highest biological accumulation coefficient among the investigated plants. The calculated chronic daily intake of As in Bijar County was higher than the recommended levels for wheat and barley grains. Moreover, the hazard quotient (HQ) and incremental lifetime cancer risk assessments revealed high non-cancer (HQ > 1 for both adults and children) and cancer (particularly for barley in Bijar) risks for inhabitants via consumption of As contaminated crops cultivated in the study area.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to express their gratitude to the Research Committee and Medical Geology Research Center of Shiraz University for logistic and technical assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Geology, Faculty of Earth Science, Kharazmi University, 15614, Tehran, Iran

    Meisam Rastegari Mehr

  2. Department of Earth Sciences, College of Sciences, Shiraz University, 71454, Shiraz, Iran

    Behnam Keshavarzi & Farid Moore

  3. School of Geography, Geology and the Environment, Kingston University London, Kingston Upon Thames, KT1 2EE, UK

    Peter S. Hooda

  4. School of Life Sciences, Pharmacy and Chemistry, Kingston University London, Kingston Upon Thames, KT1 2EE, UK

    Rosa Busquets

  5. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Western Ontario, 1151 Richmond St, London, ON, N6A 5B7, Canada

    Zohreh Ghorbani

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  1. Meisam Rastegari Mehr
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Rastegari Mehr, M., Keshavarzi, B., Moore, F. et al. Arsenic in the rock–soil–plant system and related health risk in a magmatic–metamorphic belt, West of Iran. Environ Geochem Health 42, 3659–3673 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-020-00599-y

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