Abstract:
To scientifically quantify the non-carcinogenic health risks of soil combined polluted by heavy metals, the Target Organ Toxicity Dose (TTD) model and Weight of Evidence (WOE) analysis model were introduced to modify the non-carcinogenic health risks assessed by traditional human risk assessment (HRA) model. Adults health risks of heavy metals in agricultural soils surrounding a smelting plant in Central China by using the three methods were compared as a field case. The results showed that the average concentrations of heavy metals cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), chromium (Cr), and arsenic (As) in the soil were 0.37, 36.65, 69.06, and 7.66 mg/kg, respectively. Among them, Cd, Pb, and Cr exceeded the soil background values to varying degrees. Non-carcinogenic health risk values assessed by HRA (HI
HRA) for these four heavy metals ranged from 2.27×10
−3 to 3.35×10
−1. Amended by TTD and WOE model, HI
TTD and HI
WOE values for the four heavy metals ranged from 1.64×10
−2 to 5.50×10
−1 and from 1.08×10
−2 to 6.09×10
−1, respectively. The average values of HI
TTD and HI
WOE were 1.88 and 1.17 times higher than that of HI
HRA, respectively. The study emphasized the importance to consider the multi-target organs effect of a specific heavy metals and the interactions among the heavy metals for assessing the non-carcinogenic health risks on agricultural land contaminated with multiple heavy metals. This approach helps to prevent the limitations of traditional risk assessment methods, which may not accurately reflect the real health hazards posed by polluted soil to the population exposed to it.