title: Comparison of arsenic levels in fingernails with urinary As species as biomarkers of arsenic exposure in residents living close to a coal-burning power plant in Prievidza District, Slovakia.
abstract: The associations between As levels in fingernails with both As concentrations in urine and environmental samples are reported. The participants (aged 20-80 years, mean 66 years) lived in the vicinity of a coal-burning power plant with high As emissions in the Prievidza District, Slovakia. Samples were taken in 1999 and 2000. The As levels in fingernails (n = 524) were measured after washing and digestion with microwave heating by hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry. The spot urine samples (n = 436) were speciated for inorganic As (As(inorg)), monomethylarsonic (MMA) and dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) by hydride-cryogenic trap-atomic absorption spectrometry. The geometric mean As level in fingernails was 0.10 mug/g (range, <0.01-2.94 microg/g). There was a clear association between As in fingernails and the distance of the home to the power plant (P<0.001). Geometric mean As levels were: 0.17 microg/g distance < or = 5 km, 0.10 microg/g 6-10 km and 0.08 microg/g > 10 km. The association between the distance to the power plant and total urinary As (As(sum)) (n = 436, no fish consumption during the last 3 days before sample collection) was less pronounced (P = 0.018). The As levels in fingernails were positively correlated to As in soil (n = 207, r = 0.23, P<0.001) and to As in house dust (n = 209, r = 0.30, P<0.001). The associations between urinary As(sum) and As concentrations in soil (n = 159, r = 0.13, P<0.105) and in house dust (n = 162, r = 0.14, P<0.081) were quite similar. As levels in fingernails were associated with urinary As(sum) and with the different As species in urine. It is concluded that As levels in fingernails are a reliable marker of environmental As exposure, and that As concentrations in fingernails reflect the As exposure in a similar manner compared with urinary As(sum) and As species.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hygiene, Social and Environmental Medicine, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany. wilhelm@hygiene.rub.de
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wilhelm
authors.forename: Beate
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pesch
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wittsiepe
authors.forename: Pavel
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jakubis
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Miskovic
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Keegan
authors.forename: Mark J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Nieuwenhuijsen
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Ranft
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000032:analysis; D001151:Arsenic / Q000032:analysis / Q000493:pharmacokinetics* / Q000652:urine*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis*; D003031:Coal; D004391:Dust; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005260:Female; D006798:Housing; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009262:Nails / Q000737:chemistry*; D011210:Power Plants; D018154:Slovakia
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D003031:Coal; D004391:Dust; D001151:Arsenic