The Science of the Total Environment 220 Ž1998.

137]145

Lead and cadmium contents in cereals and pulses in

north-eastern China

Zuo-Wen Zhang a,c , Takao Watanabe b , Shinichiro Shimbo c , Kae Higashikawad ,

Masayuki Ikedad,U
a
Department of Public Health, Kyoto Uni¨ ersity, Faculty of Medicine, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan
b
Miyagi Uni¨ ersity of Education, Sendai 980-0845, Japan
c
Department of Food and Nutrition, Kyoto Women’s Uni¨ ersity, Kyoto 605-8501, Japan
d
Kyoto Industrial Health Association, 67 Nishinokyo-Kitatsuboicho, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto 604-8472, Japan

Received 14 May 1998; accepted 19 June 1998

Abstract

It is known that, unlike Japanese, Koreans or southern Chinese who depend on rice as a major source of energy
for daily life, people in north-eastern China rely not only on rice, but on wheat and other cereals and to a lesser
extent also on pulses. Cereal and pulse samples were collected from open markets in north-eastern China, and
analyzed by inductively-coupled plasma spectrometry ŽICP-MS. for two potentially hazardous heavy metals } lead
ŽPb. and cadmium ŽCd.. The average Pb level in cereals Ž31.3 ng Pbrg as a geometric mean. and that of pulses Ž25.7
ng Pbrg. were similar to each other with no significant difference. Among the cereals, Pb contents were higher in
foxtail millet Ž54.3 ngrg. and lower in maize Ž35.4 ng Pbrg; grain and flour in combination., wheat flour Ž28.8 ng
Pbrg. and rice flour Ž22.7 ng Pbrg.. Lead levels in two important types of pulses, kidney bean and soybean Ž24.6 and
30.8 ng Pbrg, respectively., were comparable to the levels in rice and wheat. In contrast, Cd levels were substantially
higher in pulses Ž55.7 ng Cdrg. than in cereals Ž9.2 ng Cdrg., and among the pulses, Cd in soybean Ž55.7 ng Cdrg.
was significantly higher than that in kidney bean Ž23.8 ng Cdrg.. The possible public health implication of the Pb and
Cd levels, especially the high Pb level in foxtail millet Ž54.3 ng Pbrg. and the high Cd level in soybean Ž73.5 ng
Cdrg., is discussed. Q 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Cadmium; Cereals; Flour; Lead; North-eastern China; Pulses

U
Corresponding author. Tel.: q81 75 7534460; fax: q81 75 7534466.

0048-9697r98r$ - see front matter Q 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
PII S0048-9697Ž98.00252-6
138 Z.-W. Zhang et al. r The Science of the Total En¨ ironment 220 (1998) 137]145

1. Introduction Latin wdetermined in reference to the food con-

sumption tables for foods in China ŽInstitute of
Two heavy metals, lead ŽPb. and cadmium ŽCd., Nutrition and Food Hygiene, 1991.x are shown in
are typical potentially hazardous elements pollut- Table 1 together with English and Chinese names.
ing not only the working atmosphere, but also the
general environment ŽInternational Programme 2.2. Analysis of cereal and pulse samples for Cd and
on Chemical Safety, 1977, 1989, 1992a,b; Vahter, Pb
1982; Vahter and Slorach, 1990.. Once absorbed,
they are known to be persistent in the human A portion of each cereal or pulse sample Ž6 g.
body with long excretion half-lives in the order of was wet-ashed by heating in the presence of min-
years ŽInternational Programme on Chemical eral acids ŽWatanabe et al., 1982., and the treated
Safety, 1977, 1992a.. Our studies on the exposure samples were analyzed for Pb and Cd by induc-
to pollutant elements have shown that the major tively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry ŽICP-
source of non-occupational exposure of the gen- MS. with a SPQ 9000 Plasma Quadrupole Mass
eral populations to these elements is from foods Analyzer coupled with an AT 400 Auto Sampler
rather than atmospheric air, especially rice among Žboth from Seiko Instruments, Tokyo, Japan. as
foods for such people as Japanese ŽWatanabe et previously described in detail ŽZhang et al.,
al., 1984, 1985, 1996a; Ikeda et al., 1989; Ikeda, 1997b.. Lead-208 and 114 Cd were selected for
1992. and Koreans ŽMoon et al., 1995. who de- determination ŽZhang et al., 1997b., and 89 Y and
pend primarily on this type of cereals for energy 205
Tl were used as internal standards to compen-
of everyday life. Among the Asians, however, sate physical interference ŽZhang et al., 1997b..
people in north-eastern China are known to con-
sume not only various cereals, especially wheat, 2.3. Quality control
but also millet and maize and to a less extent
pulses in addition to rice ŽGe et al., 1996; Zhang Quality control of analysis for Pb and Cd was
et al., 1997a.. Moreover, pulses, especially soy- conducted as previously described with satisfac-
bean, are an important source of protein for the tory results ŽZhang et al., 1997b,c., and the per-
people. formance was certified by the Round Robin Pro-
In this study, various cereal and pulse samples
Table 1
were collected from open markets in north-east-
Cereals and pulses in English, Latin and Chinese
ern China, and analyzed for the two pollutant
elements by inductively-coupled plasma spec- English Latin Chinesea
trometry ŽICP-MS.. The analysis results are sum-
Cereals
marized in the present report to establish a
Foxtail millet Setaria italica Xiaomi
database for the estimation of dietary Pb and Cd Maize Zea mays ¨
Yumi
burden of the people in north-eastern China. Rice, non-glutinous Oryza sati¨ a Dami
Rice, glutinous Oryza sati¨ a Nuomi
2. Materials and methods var. glutinosa
Sorghum, Chinese Sorghum ¨ ulare Gaoling
2.1. Collection of cereal and pulse samples Wheat Triticum aesti¨ um Xiaomai

Samples were collected in 1997. Open markets Pulses

in major cities in north-eastern China were vis- Adzuki bean Phaseolus angularis Xiaodou
ited for the collection of cereals and pulses. These Cowpea Žblack-eyed pea. Vigna sinensis Jiangdou
Fava bean Žbroad bean. Vicia faba Candou
foods were to be consumed by regional people Green gram Žmung bean. Phaseolus radiatus ¨
Ludou
and were very probably harvested locally, but in Kidney bean Phaseolus ¨ ulgaris ¨
Yundou
most cases the sites of production could not be Peanut Arachis hypogaea Huasheng
identified. To facilitate the identification of the Soybean Glycine max Dadou
food items especially pulses, botanical names in a
By pronunciation.
 Z.-W. Zhang et al. r The Science of the Total En¨ ironment 220 (1998) 137]145
gramme for 1996]1997 ŽPb. and 1997]1998 ŽCd.
run by the German Society for Occupational
Medicine and Environmental Medicine.
2.4. Reagents
Sources of reagents Žincluding certified stan-
dards and acids for wet-ashing., reference materi-
als and preparation of de-ionized water were pre-
viously described in detail ŽZhang et al., 1997c..
2.5. Statistical analysis
Cadmium and Pb concentrations in rice sam-
ples from non-polluted areas are distributed log-
normally ŽWatanabe et al., 1996b; Zhang et al.,
1996. rather than normally. Accordingly, a geo-
metric mean ŽGM. and a geometric standard de-
viation ŽGSD. wtogether with the sample size Ž N .x
in addition to an arithmetic mean ŽAM. and an
arithmetic standard deviation ŽASD. are shown to
represent the distribution of the metal concentra-
tions. Analysis of variance ŽANOVA. and Stu-
dent’s unpaired t-test were employed Žafter log-
arithmic conversion. to detect significant differ-
ences between or among means.
3. Results
3.1. Pb le¨ els in cereal and pulse samples
Results of analyses for Pb are summarized in
Table 2. The GM Pb levels in the cereals were in
a range of 23]54 ngrg. ANOVA showed that the
Pb levels did not vary significantly Ž P) 0.10.
among the five types of cereals Žfoxtail millet,
maize, rice, sorghum and wheat.. The lack, how-
ever, may be due to large GSDs; the GM for
foxtail Ž54.3 ngrg. and that for sorghum Ž56.3
ngrg. were more than twice of that for rice Ž22.7
ngrg.. No significant Ž P) 0.10. difference in Pb
levels was detected between grain and flour sam-
ples of maize; an apparently higher AM value for
maize grain was due to one sample with an excep-
tionally high Pb content Ž616 ng Pbrg; the value
was confirmed by repeated measurements .. In the
case of rice, GM or AM Pb in glutinous rice was
significantly Ž P- 0.05. higher than that in non-
glutinous common rice. This difference was also
139
essentially due to the presence of one glutinous
rice sample containing 491 ng Pbrg Žthis high
value was also confirmed by repeated measure-
ments.; exclusion of this particular sample re-
duced the GM ŽGSD. and AM" ASD to 29.8
ngrg Ž2.31. and 44.6" 46.0 ngrg, and the differ-
ence from the value for non-glutinous rice be-
came either insignificant Ž P) 0.10. when GMs
were compared, or of borderline significance Ž0.10
) P) 0.05. when AMs were compared.
The number of samples was quite limited for
cowpea Žone sample., fava bean Žone. and peanut
Žtwo.. ANOVA with four types of pulses Ži.e.
adzuki bean, green gram, kidney bean and soy-
bean. excluding the above-stated three types of
small sample sizes showed no significant Ž P)
0.10. difference in Pb levels among the pulses.
The Pb content in cowpea was almost twice as
high as the levels in others although only one
measure was available, and conversely the levels
in two samples of peanut were substantially lower
than others. Further confirmation is apparently
necessary because only limited numbers of sam-
ples were analyzed.
The overall average level of Pb in pulses did
not differ significantly from that in cereals. The
difference was either of borderline significance
Ž0.10) P) 0.05. or insignificant Ž P) 0.10. when
GMs or AMs were compared, respectively.
3.2. Cd le¨ els in cereal and pulse samples
Table 3 summarizes Cd levels in cereals and
pulses. Multiple comparison ŽScheffe. among the
cereals showed that the Cd level in maize Ž4.4
ngrg as GM. was significantly Ž P- 0.01. lower
than the levels in other cereals Ž11.2]14.5 ng
Cdrg.. The Cd level in the glutinous rice samples
Ž26.2 ngrg as GM. was significantly Ž P- 0.05.
higher than that in the non-glutinous one. It was
previously found that the Pb content in one gluti-
nous rice sample was exceptionally high Ž491 ng
Pbrg.. The Cd content in this sample was 44
ngrg, which was the third highest among the six
samples, thus showing no elevation of Cd content
concomitant with that of Pb.
Comparison of Cd in pulses Ž55.7 ng Cdrg as a
grand GM. with that in cereals Ž9.2 ng Cdrg.
140 Z.-W. Zhang et al. r The Science of the Total En¨ ironment 220 (1998) 137]145

Table 2
Lead contents in cereal and pulse samples from north-eastern China

Cereals and pulses N GMa ŽGSD. AMa " ASDa Mina Maxa

Cereals
Foxtail millet 8 54.3 Ž1.93. 65.4" 42.2 25 144
Maize
Grain 9 34.7 Ž3.83.d 96.8" 195.8e 7 616
Flour 7 36.4 Ž1.70.d 40.4" 17.7e 14 67
Total 16 35.4 Ž2.82. 72.1" 146.3 7 616
Rice
Non-glutinous 17 17.5 Ž2.17.f 23.3" 19.1g 4 66
Glutinous 6 47.5 Ž4.13.f 119.1" 188.1g 11 419
Total 23 22.7 Ž2.85. 48.3" 100.8 4 419
Sorghum, Chinese 3 56.3 Ž2.70. 73.7" 54.4 19 127
Wheat flour 9 28.8 Ž1.86. 35.1" 27.9 15 103

All cereals 59 31.3 Ž2.63.h 56.4" 100.0i 4 616

P by ANOVA 0.163 0.900

Pulses
Adzuki bean 3 31.8 Ž1.47. 34.7" 11.3 21 42
Cowpea Žblack-eyed pea. 1 55.0b
Fava bean Žbroad bean. 1 18.6b
Green gram Žmung bean. 5 29.4 Ž1.98. 34.7" 20.1 11 59
Kidney bean 11 24.6 Ž1.72. 27.9" 14.6 9 57
Peanut 2 3.8, 6.7b
Soybean 11 30.8 Ž2.21. 41.4" 37.8 12 143

All pulses 34 25.7 Ž2.10.h 33.0" 25.6i 4 143

P for ANOVA Žseven types.c 0.045 0.568
P for ANOVA Žfour types.c 0.845 0.699
a
Unit; ngrg.
b
Individual values are shown.
c
ANOVA was conducted with all pulses Žseven types., and also with pulses for which G three samples were available Žfour types..
d
P value for the difference between the two means with the same superscript letter Žd. is ) 0.10.
e
P value for the difference between the two means with the same superscript letter Že. is ) 0.10.
f
P value for the difference between the two means with the same superscript letters Žf. is - 0.05.
g
P value for the difference between the two means with the same superscript letter Žg. is - 0.05.
h
P value for the difference between the two means with the same superscript letter Žh. is between 0.05 and 0.10.
i
P value for the difference between the two means with the same superscript letter Ži. is between 0.05 and 0.10.

showed that the former was significantly Ž P- 0.01,
independent of comparison of GMs or AMs.
higher than the latter. Concerning the pulses,
ANOVA showed a significant difference Ž P-
0.05. among GMs or AMs of Cd in the four types
of pulses Ži.e. adzuki bean, green gram, kidney
bean and soybean.. Multiple comparison ŽScheffe.
showed that Cd in kidney bean Ž23.8 ngrg as
GM. was significantly Ž P- 0.05. lower than that
in soybean Ž73.5 ngrg.. The high Cd content Ž381
ngrg. in one cowpea sample apparently needs
further confirmation, because only one sample
was analyzed.
4. Discussion
The present study has summarized the Pb and
Cd levels in common cereals and pulses available
in north-eastern China ŽTables 2 and 3.. Possible
roles of these cereals and pulses as the dietary Pb
and Cd sources are worthy of discussion.
Several relevant points of interest can be abs-
 Z.-W. Zhang et al. r The Science of the Total En¨ ironment 220 (1998) 137]145 141

Table 3
Cadmium contents in cereal and pulse samples from north-eastern China

Cereals and pulses N GMa ŽGSD. AMa " ASDa Mina Maxa

Cereals
Foxtail millet 8 13.5 Ž1.27. 13.8" 3.2 9 18
Maize
Grain 9 3.4 Ž1.48.d 3.7" 1.4e 2 6
Flour 7 5.9 Ž1.80.d 6.7" 3.1e 2 10
Total 16 4.4 Ž1.72. 5.0" 2.7 2 10
Rice
Non-glutinous 17 8.2 Ž1.64.f 9.4" 5.5g 4 25
Glutinous 6 26.2 Ž3.01.f 40.5" 36.4g 5 100
Total 23 11.2 Ž2.34. 17.5" 22.8 4 100
Sorghum, Chinese 3 9.6 Ž1.78. 10.8" 6.7 6 19
Wheat flour 9 14.5 Ž1.51. 15.7" 7.3 9 31

All cereals 59 9.2 Ž2.19.h 13.0" 15.4i 2 100

P by ANOVA - 0.001 0.152
Pulses
Adzuki bean 3 92.0 Ž3.50. 137.5" 117.2 23 257
Cowpea Žblack-eyed pea. 1 381.3b
Fava bean Žbroad bean. 1 74.7b
Green gram Žmung bean. 5 72.0 Ž1.41. 75.7" 29.0 53 125
Kidney bean 11 23.8 Ž2.08.j 30.7" 26.8k 7 106
Peanut 2 64.6, 185.8b
Soybean 11 73.5 Ž2.59.j 105.6" 84.6k 17 242

All pulses 34 55.7 Ž2.73.h 88.2" 87.7i 7 381

P for ANOVA Žseven types.c 0.010 0.001
P for ANOVA Žfour types.c 0.010 0.031
a
Unit; ngrg.
b
Individual values are shown.
c
ANOVA was conducted with all pulses Žseven types., and also with pulses for which G three samples were available Žfour types..
d
P value for the difference between the two means with the same superscript letter Žd. is - 0.05.
e
P value for the difference between the two means with the same superscript letter Že. is - 0.01.
f
P value for the difference between the two means with the same superscript letter Žf. is - 0.01.
g
P value for the difference between the two means with the same superscript letter Žg. is - 0.01.
h
P value for the difference between the two means with the same superscript letter Žh. is - 0.01.
i
P value for the difference between the two means with the same superscript letter Ži. is - 0.01.
j
P value for the difference between the two means with the same superscript letter Žj. is - 0.05.
k
P value for the difference between the two means with the same superscript letter Žk. is between 0.05 and 0.10.

tracted from a 1992 national report of nutritional
survey in China ŽGe et al., 1996.. First, people in
north-eastern China tend to eat more wheat
products than those in the south. For example,
inhabitants in Jilin and Heilongjiang Provinces in
the north-east Žthose in cities and in villages
combined. had an intake of 85 and 136 g wheat
productsrday, respectively Žin addition to 312 and
247 g rice and rice productsrday., whereas those
in Guangdong Province near Hong Kong in the
south consumed 19 g wheat and 346 g ricerday.
Consumption of cereals other than rice and wheat
Žor ‘other’ cereals in brief. was also greater in
Jilin Ž76 grday. and Heilongjiang Provinces Ž28
grday. than in Guangdong Ž0.3 grday.. More-
over, villagers in the former two provinces in the
north-east tended to eat more ‘other’ cereals Ž100
and 40 grday in Jilin and Heilongjiang, respec-
tively. than those in the cities Ž35 and 8 grday..
Pulses and pulse products were consumed
142 Z.-W. Zhang et al. r The Science of the Total En¨ ironment 220 (1998) 137]145
throughout Mainland China ŽGe et al., 1996. with
no remarkable bias between the north-east and
the south, although city people used to consume
more Že.g. 13 and 10 grday in Jilin and Hei-
longjiang Provinces, respectively. than farmers Ž7
and 4 grday., very contrary to expectation. Un-
fortunately, no details on the types of ‘other’
cereals or pulses consumed were given in the
report. However, it is known through our experi-
ences in the city of Jinan and a nearby farming
village in Shandong Province ŽShimbo et al., 1997;
Zhang et al., 1997a. that foxtail millet and corn
were the most common cereals next to wheat and
rice.
It was also learnt that, in north-eastern China,
raising sorghum for human foods was only in the
past, and that the major uses of sorghum today
are for liquor production and also as feeds for
domestic animals. Among the pulses, soybeans
and kidney beans are the most popular; soybeans
are usually consumed not in the form of beans,
but rather as materials for tofu Žor bean curd.
and miso wa paste-like fermentation product of
soybean, rice Žor wheat. and saltx. When bean
sprouts were prepared, however, seed leaves on
the top of each sprout will be also eaten. Kidney
beans are typically boiled with rice or other
cereals for consumption with no further cooking,
or boiled with sugar as an ingredient of tradi-
tional sweet cakes.
Taking such food consumption customs
together with Pb levels in cereals and pulses into
consideration, it is prudent to conclude that the
consumption of foxtail millet Žwith high Pb con-
tents; Table 2. may be accompanied by substan-
tially more intake of Pb as compared with the
intake of rice and wheat. This possibility is in line
with our previous observation that foxtail millet
intake is a leading determinant of blood Pb level
among the people in Shandong Province ŽZhang
et al., 1997a.. It is, however, not possible in the
present study to make a precise evaluation of
foxtail millet as the source of dietary Pb intake,
because no quantitative data on intake of each
types of ‘other’ cereals are available at the mo-
ment.
High Cd levels in pulses in general as com-
pared with those in cereals may need special
attention because pulses are important sources of
protein and lipid of vegetable origins in Asia. For
example, soybean and kidney bean contain 35.3
and 19.9 g proteinr100 g and 19.0 and 2.2 g
lipidr100 g, respectively ŽResources Council, Sci-
ence and Technology Agency, 1982.. Although
the consumption of pulses is substantially less
than that of cereals and soybean is most often
consumed in the form of processed foods such as
tofu and miso Žso that the chances are that Cd in
water-soluble forms may be washed out during
the process., the roles of pulses especially soy-
bean need further quantification as possible di-
etary source of Cd.
Higher Pb Ž47.5 ngrg as GM. and Cd levels
Ž26.2 ngrg. in glutinous rice as compared with
the levels in non-glutinous rice Ž17.5 ng Pb and
8.2 ng Cdrg; Tables 2 and 3. is also worthy of
attention. A similar comparison in a previous
report on rice samples collected world-wide
ŽWatanabe et al., 1989. showed that no significant
Ž P) 0.10. difference was detected in Pb levels
between glutinous Ž15.5 ngrg as GM of 19 sam-
ples. and non-glutinous rice Ž15.3 ngrg; 188 sam-
ples.. The Cd levels in the glutinous rice Ž33.3
ngrg. was, however, almost twice as high as that
in the non-glutinous rice Ž19.0 ngrg., even though
the difference was statistically insignificant
ŽWatanabe et al., 1989..
As discussed above, the high GM and AM in
glutinous rice in the present study was primarily
attributable to one specific sample in which the
Pb content was exceptionally high. Nevertheless,
the trend of higher Pb and Cd levels in glutinous
rice samples as compared with the levels in non-
glutinous common rice samples appeared to stand
even when this particular sample was excluded.
Although the intake of glutinous rice is not a
matter of everyday life and is limited in associa-
tion with special occasions such as social or per-
sonal festivities, further studies may be necessary
to examine if glutinous rice has a higher capacity
to absorb Pb and Cd from paddy soil andror a
better transport from roots to grains, and if the
consumption of glutinous rice is in fact associated
with a higher risk of dietary exposure to these
heavy metals than the intake of non-glutinous
common rice.
A literature survey shows that, whereas a num-
ber of papers are available on Pb and Cd contents
 Z.-W. Zhang et al. r The Science of the Total En¨ ironment 220 (1998) 137]145 143

in two major cereals of rice and wheat, publica-
tions are scarce on ‘other’ cereals and pulses. The
available information on Pb and Cd contents in
‘other’ cereals and pluses is summarized in Table
4 together with some references on rice grain and
wheat flour ŽJohnson and Manske, 1976; Manske
and Johnson, 1977; Masironi et al., 1977; Suzuki
et al., 1980; Wolnik et al., 1983; Galal-Gorchev,
¨
1991, 1993; Chen et al., 1994; Muller et al., 1996;
Watanabe et al., 1996b, 1998; Zhang et al., 1996,
1997d; Buscema et al., 1997; Masironi et al., 1977;
Watanabe et al., 1996a,b, 1998. to compare with
the present results.
Several points may need to be considered be-
fore the values are compared. It is quite conceiv-
able that the uptake efficiency of elements from
soil followed by the move to cereal grains or to
pulses may vary depending on the types of plants
as well as soil ŽFernandes and Henriques, 1990;
Schuhmacher et al., 1994; Nwosu et al., 1995;
¨
Bruggemann and Kumpulainen, 1995; Zhang et
al., 1997d.. The possibility of metal contamination
during the milling process even in modern flour
¨
production plants has been noted ŽBruggemann
and Kumpulainen, 1995. separately from techni-
cal failure such as lead contamination of home-
ground flour so severe as to cause non-occupa-
tional dietary lead poisoning ŽHershko et al., 1984,
1989; Kocak et al., 1989; Tabaku and Panariti,
1996.. Furthermore, there may be a long-term
trend of decreases in pollutant element levels in
cereals; one report from Denmark ŽSolgaard et
al., 1978. showed a decrease in Pb contamination
in cereals Žwinter and spring wheat and barley

Table 4
Lead and cadmium contents in cereals and pulses reported in literature

Metal Cereals Foxtail Maize Rice Sorghum Wheat Pulses

reference in general millet flour in general

Lead
Johnson and Manske Ž1976. Trace]700a
Manske and Johnson Ž1977. 30]200a 100]1300a
Wolnik et al. Ž1983. 3 37 42b , 10c
Galal-Gorchev Ž1991. 60a
Galal-Gorchev Ž1993. 60a 40a
Zhang et al. Ž1996. 2]58
Buscema et al. Ž1997. 24]215
Zhang et al. Ž1997a. 43 47 20]21 26]30
Present study Ž1998. 31 54 35 23 56 29 26

Cadmium
Johnson and Manske Ž1976. 20]50a 10]30a
Manske and Johnson Ž1977. 20]50a 10]100a
Masironi et al. Ž1977. 2]65
Suzuki et al. Ž1980. 29
Wolnik et al. Ž1983. 3 43 59b , 78c
Galal-Gorchev Ž1991. 30a
Galal-Gorchev Ž1993. 30a
Chen et al. Ž1994. 110 83
Watanabe et al. Ž1996b. 3]56
¨ et al. Ž1996.
Muller 4]26 3]38 8]77 0.3]8d
Buscema et al. Ž1997. 142]266
Watanabe et al. Ž1998. 13 9 3]13 12]17
Present study Ž1998. 9 14 4 11 10 15 56

Note. Values are in ngrg.

a
Estimated based on reviewing, and not measured by the authors.
b
Soybean.
c
Peanut.
d
Green pea.
144 Z.-W. Zhang et al. r The Science of the Total En¨ ironment 220 (1998) 137]145
combined. in 1977 Žapprox. 20]30 ngrg. to the
levels one-fifth of what were found in 1962 Žap-
prox. 90]160 ngrg., whereas another report from
Germany described lack of substantial changes in
Cd contents in wheat, rye and barley harvested in
the mid 1970s until the mid 1980s ŽLorenz et al.,
1986..
It appears quite likely that no remarkable metal
contamination has taken place in the milling
process in the study areas, e.g. Pb in maize flour
is no higher than that in maize grain ŽTable 2.,
although Cd in the flour was higher than the level
in the grain ŽTable 3.. Published data are unfor-
tunately limited and no further analysis was possi-
ble on other points. The present results are, how-
ever, in general agreement with values reported
in literature ŽTable 4. with one exception that the
values reported by Chen et al. Ž1994. for Cd in
foxtail millet Ž50]1160 ngrg with an AM of 110
ngrg. and maize Ž52]136 ngrg with an AM of 83
ngrg. were more than 10 times higher than the
present observation.
The Pb and Cd contents in cereals estimated
through reviewing w30]200 ngrg by Manske and
Johnson Ž1977. and 60 ngrg by Galal-Gorchev
Ž1991, 1993. for Pb, and 20]50 ngrg by Johnson
and Manske Ž1976. and Manske and Johnson
Ž1977. and 30 ngrg by Galal-Gorchev Ž1991, 1993.
for Cdx appear, however, approximately twice as
high as the present values Ž31 ng Pbrg and 9 ng
Cdrg.. The lower values obtained by the present
study might be attributable to possible differences
in soils of the fields where the samples were
harvested, or might suggest time-dependent de-
creases in Pb and Cd contents in cereals. No
comparison was possible for Pb and Cd in pulses
Žthe present values being 26 ng Pbrg and 56 ng
Cdrg. because the ranges of the estimates given
by Johnson and Manske Ž1976., trace]700 ng
Pbrg and 10]30 ng Cdrg and Manske and John-
son Ž1977., 100]1300 ng Pbrg and 10]100 ng
Cdrg are quite wide ŽTable 4.. It is quite desir-
able to know the characteristics of the soil of the
areas Žespecially concerning Pb and Cd contents
and factors which may affect the transfer of the
metals in the soil to cereal grains or pulses.
where the sample cereals and pulses were har-
vested. Unfortunately, the place of harvest was
not known in most cases as described in Section
2, and no information was available on the
geochemistry of the local soil.
Acknowledgements
A part of this study was supported by Public
Health Ward, Japan Ž1997. which was granted to
M.I.
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