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Health risk assessment of Chinese consumers to nickel via dietary intake of foodstuffs

A quantitative risk assessment was carried out to characterise the health risk from nickel (Ni) via dietary exposure for Chinese consumers. Ni contamination in foods was investigated by conducting a survey and a literature review. The daily diet of the public was categorised into nine food groups and the consumption data for each group were obtained from a nationwide survey. Deterministic and probabilistic methods were applied to calculate the target hazard quotients (THQs) by comparing the estimated dietary Ni intake with respect to the tolerable daily intake (TDI). The average estimated daily Ni intake (μg kg–1 bw day–1) for men, women, 2–3-year-old children and 4–17-year-old children were 7.2, 7.3, 17.1 and 10.0, respectively. The consumption of cereals, beans, vegetables and marine products contributed significantly to the total daily intake of Ni. The mean THQ values (95% confidence interval) and the probability of dietary Ni exposure higher than the TDI were 0.60 (0.58–0.62) and 8.2% for men, 0.61 (0.59–0.63) and 8.4% for women, 1.35 (1.32–1.39) and 72.0% for 2–3-year-old children, and 0.87 (0.82–0.91) and 28.5% for 4–17-year-old children, respectively. This study showed a potential health risk from Ni via dietary exposure for Chinese consumers, especially among children. Graphical Abstract