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Cited by 173Heavy Metals in PlantsHeavy metals in environmentHeavy Metal Exposure and Toxicity

Accumulation of Heavy Metals in Tea Leaves and Potential Health Risk Assessment: A Case Study from Puan County, Guizhou Province, China

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Zhang, Jian, Yang, Ruidong, Chen, Rong, Peng, Yishu, Wen, Xuefeng, Gao, Lei·2018·International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
DOI 10.3390/ijerph15010133PMC PMC5800232
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Abstract

This study features a survey of the concentrations of aluminum (Al) and heavy metals (Mn, Pb, Cd, Hg, As, Cr, Ni, Cu, and Zn) in tea leaves and the corresponding cultivation soils (0–30 cm), carried out in Puan County (Guizhou Province, China). The average concentrations of Al, Mn, Pb, Cd, Hg, As, Cr, Ni, Cu, and Zn in the soil were 106 × 103, 214, 20.9, 0.09, 0.12, 17.5, 121, 27.8, 131.2, and 64 mg·kg−1, respectively. The heavy metals’ pollution indexes in the soil can be ranked as follows: Cu > Cr > Hg > As > Ni > Zn > Pb > Mn > Cd. The soil was moderately polluted by Cu because of the high geochemical background value of Cu in the area. The potential environment risk index (RI) showed that 7.69% out of the total sample sites were within the moderate level. Moreover, the ranges of Al, Mn, Pb, Cd, Hg, As, Cr, Ni, Cu, and Zn concentrations in young tea leaves were 250–660, 194–1130, 0.107–0.400, 0.012–0.092, 0.014–0.085, 0.073–0.456, 0.33–1.26, 6.33–14.90, 14.90–26.10, and 35.8–50.3 mg·kg−1, respectively. While in mature tea leaves, they were 4300–10,400, 536–4610, 0.560–1.265, 0.040–0.087, 0.043–0.089, 0.189–0.453, 0.69–2.91, 3.43–14.20, 6.17–16.25, and 9.1–20.0 mg·kg−1, respectively. Furthermore, the concentrations of Pb, Cu, As, Hg, Cd, and Cr in young tea leaves and mature tea leaves were all lower than the standard limit values (5.0, 30, 2.0, 0.3, 1.0, and 5.0 mg·kg−1 for Pb, Cu, As, Hg, Cd, and Cr, respectively) in China. Besides, the accumulation ability of tea leaves to Mn was the strongest, and the average bioconcentration factor (BCF) of Mn in mature tea leaves was 12.5. In addition, the average target hazard quotients (THQ) were all less than one for the young tea leaves and the average aggregate risk hazard index (HI) to adults was 0.272, indicating that there was not a potential health risk for adults through the consumption of the infusions brewed by young tea leaves. However, for mature tea leaves, the percentage which HI values were above one was 38.46%, and the risk to adults via the consumption of mature tea infusions were mainly contributed by Mn and Al.

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  • Investigation on tea and infusions extract of E. indica leaves for health risk studies provided further support on the safe consumption of the plant.

    “Moreover, investigation on tea and infusions extract of the leaves for health risk studies provided further support on the safe consumption of the plant (Zhang et al, 2018; Patrick-Iwuanyanwu & Udowelle, 2017).”

    From Eleusine Indica for Food and Medicine (2021) · cites this paper as Zhang et al, 2018

    The Health Risk Assessment (section 3.5; page unavailable) reports that young tea infusions from Puan County did not appear to pose a health risk to local adults under the study’s assumptions. But Zhang et al. studied tea leaves, not E. indica, and found potential risks in some mature-leaf infusions. It therefore does not establish that E. indica is safe to consume. (LLM, conf=0.88)

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Cited by

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Authors
Zhang, J., Yang, R., Chen, R., Peng, Y., Wen, X., & Gao, L.
Affiliations
Guizhou University (CN)
Corresponding author
Yang, Ruidong
ORCID
Venue
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Publisher
MDPI AG
Published
2018-01-13
Volume
15
Issue
1
Pages
133
ISSN
1660-4601 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3390/ijerph15010133
PMC
PMC5800232
OpenAlex
W2783600847
Cited by
173
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 15 · 2025: 22 · 2024: 23 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 37 · 2021: 22 · 2020: 20 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 2
FWCI
8.27
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41463009, 41563011)
  • Innovation Group Major Research Project of Guizhou Province Education Department (KY[2016]024)
  • the First-Class Discipline (Ecology) Construction Project in China’s Guizhou Province (not have)
  • the Important and Special Project (Tea) of Guizhou Province Science and Technology Department (not have)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Chemistry › Analytical Chemistry › Heavy Metals in Plants
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Heavy metals in environment
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Heavy Metal Exposure and Toxicity
Keywords
heavy metals, tea leaves, soil contamination, copper contamination, aluminum, lead, cadmium, arsenic, mercury, chromium, nickel, zinc, manganese, health risk assessment, dietary exposure, potential ecological risk index, tea safety, soil-to-plant transfer factor, bioaccumulation factor, human health risk, ecological risk, geochemical background
MeSH terms
Adult, Arsenic, China, Environmental Monitoring, Humans, Metals, Soil Pollutants, Tea, Plant Leaves, Risk Assessment, Camellia sinensis

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