The Challenges and Solutions for Cadmium-contaminated Rice in China: A Critical Review

The wide occurrence of Cd-contaminated rice in southern China poses significant public health risk and deserves immediate action, which arises primarily from extensive metal (including Cd) contamination of paddies with the fast expansion of nonferrous metal mining and smelting activities. Accumulati...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environment international Vol. 92-93; pp. 515 - 532
Main Authors: Hu, Yuanan, Cheng, Hefa, Tao, Shu
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Netherlands Elsevier Ltd 01.07.2016
Subjects:
alternative crops
animal manures
bioavailability
biochar
Biotechnology
cadmium
Cadmium - analysis
Cadmium - metabolism
Cadmium-contaminated rice
China
cleaning
cost effectiveness
crop production
cultivars
Diet
Dietary Exposure - prevention & control
Dietary intake
Edible Grain - chemistry
Edible Grain - metabolism
food chain
Food Contamination - prevention & control
food plants
food security
Health risk
Humans
hybrids
marker-assisted selection
mining
Oryza
paddies
paddy soils
Phytoavailability
phytoremediation
plant anatomy
Plant biotechnology and breeding
Plant Breeding
polluted soils
pollution
public health
rice
risk
Soil Pollutants - analysis
Soil Pollutants - metabolism
Soil remediation
washing
China, People's Rep
China
Soil remediation
Dietary intake
Phytoavailability
Plant biotechnology and breeding
Cadmium-contaminated rice
Health risk
ISSN:0160-4120, 1873-6750
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:The wide occurrence of Cd-contaminated rice in southern China poses significant public health risk and deserves immediate action, which arises primarily from extensive metal (including Cd) contamination of paddies with the fast expansion of nonferrous metal mining and smelting activities. Accumulation of Cd in rice grains can be reduced by removing Cd from the contaminated paddy soils, reducing its bioavailability, and controlling its uptake by rice plants. Although a range of measures can be taken to rehabilitate Cd-contaminated lands, including soil replacement and turnover, chemical washing, and phytoremediation, they are either too expensive and/or too slow. Various amendment materials, including lime, animal manures, and biochar, can be used to immobilize Cd in soils, but such fixation approach can only temporarily reduce Cd availability to rice uptake. Cultivation of alternative crops with low Cd accumulation in edible plant parts is impractical on large scales due to extensive contamination and food security concerns in southern China. Transgenic techniques can help develop rice cultivars with low Cd accumulation in grains, but little public acceptance is expected for such products. As an alternative, selection and development of low-Cd rice varieties and hybrids through plant biotechnology and breeding, particularly, by integration of marker-assisted selection (MAS) with traditional breeding, could be a practical and acceptable option that would allow continued rice production in soils with high bioavailability of Cd. Plant biotechnology and breeding can also help develop Cd-hyperaccumulating rice varieties, which can greatly facilitate phytoremediation of contaminated paddies. To eliminate the long-term risk of Cd entering the food chain, soils contaminated by Cd should be cleaned up when cost-effective remediation measures are available. [Display omitted] •Cd-contaminated rice poses major food safety and public health concerns in S. China•Cd pollution of paddies resulted primarily from nonferrous metal mining and smelting•Removal of Cd from soil is challenging, while its phytoavailability can be controlled•Plant biotechnology and breeding can accelerate development of low-Cd rice cultivars•Growing low-Cd rice in contaminated paddies can greatly reduce dietary exposure of Cd
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ISSN:0160-4120
1873-6750
DOI:10.1016/j.envint.2016.04.042