Health Risk Assessment of Inorganic Mercury and Methylmercury via Rice Consumption in the Urban City of Guiyang, Southwest China

Rice consumption is the main methylmercury (MeHg) exposure route for residents in mercury (Hg) mining areas. However, there is limited studies on mercury in commercial rice, which has high liquidity and can be directly consumed by urban residents. This study measured the total Hg (THg) and MeHg concentrations in 146 rice samples purchased from the markets in Guiyang city, southwest China, and both the inorganic Hg (IHg) and MeHg estimated daily intakes (EDIs) and hazard quotients (HQs) were calculated according to rice consumption. The THg concentrations in all rice samples (range: 0.97 to 13.10 μg·kg(−1); mean: 3.88 μg·kg(−1)) were lower than the Chinese national standard (20 μg·kg(−1)). The average MeHg concentration in rice was 1.16 μg·kg(−1). The total HQs (THQs) ranged from 0.0106 to 0.1048, with a mean of 0.0462, which was far lower than 1. This result suggests that there were low Hg exposure levels through consumption of commercial rice in residents of Guiyang.