Mercury Accumulation in Commercial Varieties of Oryza sativa L. Cultivated in Soils of La Mojana Region, Colombia

Abstract

The Hg accumulation in different commercial varieties of Oryzasativa L. was evaluated in the region of La Mojana, Colombia, where rice cultivation has become the staple food of the population living in this area. The varieties studied were Fedearroz-473 (FA473), Fedearroz-2000 (FA2000), and Fedearroz-Mocari (FAM). Soil spiked at different Hg levels was evaluated, (130, 800, and 1500 µg kg−1) using a 32 factorial design that consisted of 3 (rice varieties) × 3 (Hg contents). The biomass, 1000-grain weight, and the accumulation of Hg in the roots, grains, and husks were determined. The highest biomass was found in the FA473 (308.76 ± 108.26 g), and the lowest was found in FAM (144.04 ± 26.45 g) in the 1500 µg kg−1 Hg soil in both cases. The weight per 1000-grains decreased significantly in the soil containing 800 µg of Hg kg−1. Hg accumulation in the organs of the evaluated varieties was higher in the roots, followed by in the husks and grains. The Hg in the rice grains of the evaluated varieties presented levels close to the permissible limit of the Chinese standard (20 μg Hg kg−1) in the evaluated soils and were only exceeded by FA473. Although in natural soil concentrations, the non-cancer health risk (HQ) from rice consumption was lower for FA473 and FAM; Hg enrichment in the soil of La Mojana region may endanger the health of future populations due to their high consumption of rice.

Groundwater quality assessment in the La Mojana region of northern Colombia: implications for consumption, irrigation, and human health risks

“…Previous health risk assessments in the study area have focused on exposure to mercury from fish consumption and have shown that the estimated weekly intake for children and women of childbearing age was above the provisional tolerable weekly intake (Marrugo-Negrete et al 2020). In the Mojana area, the other exposure pathway assessed was rice consumption, but the mercury HQ values were always < 1 (Enamorado-Montes et al 2021).…”

Neuropsychological effects and cognitive deficits associated with exposure to mercury and arsenic in children and adolescents of the Mojana region, Colombia

“…The Mojana region. translated into contamination of different animal species and water bodies (Pedraza and Espinosa-Ramírez, 2022;Gutiérrez-Mosquera et al, 2021;Alonso et al, 2014Alonso et al, , 2020, and specifically in the Mojana region, which put biodiversity and human health at risk (Enamorado-Montes et al, 2021;Galeano-Paez, 2021;Buelvas-Soto et al, 2022). Similarly, regarding human exposure, several associated evidences have been reported in Colombia in which these contaminant levels were above the reference value considered safe presenting indicators from 1.87 μg/g to 22.98 μg/g for Hg in hair (Manjarres-Suárez & Olivero-Verbel, 2020;Salazar-Camacho et al, 2017;Valdelamar-Villegas and Olivero-Verbel, 2019) and between 5.5 μg/L 14.63 μg/L for Hg in blood (Díaz et al, 2018;Gutiérrez-Mosquera et al, 2018), as of high concentrations for As in blood, especially for inhabitants near areas of mining activity (Cruz-Esquivel et al, 2019).…”

Effect of Inorganic Mercury on Semen Quality, Embryo and Larval Development of Bocachico Prochilodus magdalenae

“…Colombia is one of the countries that pollutes the most with mercury, and in 2021 was considered the fourth largest gold producer in Latin America, with a production of 76.8 tons, representing an increase of 17% compared to production in 2020 [8]; it was also considered to hold the first place in per capita pollution in the world [9]. Concern about inappropriate practices and excessive use of mercury in informal and illegal mining and their threat to Colombian fish biodiversity is growing daily [10][11][12][13].…”

“…The biotransformation of inorganic mercury species to methylated organic species in water bodies can occur in the sediment and in the water column [25]. Factors such as concentration, pH, temperature, presence of organic matter, microbial activity, dissolved oxygen, and type of sediments can affect the toxicity and speciation of mercury in the aquatic environment [13,24]. The intake of heavy metals by fish and accumulation in the organism result in alterations in the structure and function of different tissues and vital organs [26].…”