A comparison of elementary schoolchildren's exposure to arsenic and lead.
One hundred fifty seven fifth-grade students (aged 10-12 years) from three elementary schools in three different towns in Taichung County, Taiwan were chosen as study subjects for the present arsenic and lead exposure study. The three towns--Longgang, Shalach, and Shuntain--are known to be highly, moderately, and lightly (control) polluted by As and Pb, respectively. Spot morning urine samples of students were collected and analyzed for arsenic and lead. The levels of As in the urine of Longgang schoolchildren showed the highest value among the three schools, while those of the control group (Shuntain) had the lowest values. In addition, the levels of Pb in the urine of the schoolchildren in Shuntain were significantly lower than those in Longgang and Shalach, while the levels of Pb in the urine of the schoolchildren in Longgang and Shalach showed no significant difference. Results of daily intake of metals from the different exposure pathways (i.e., ingestion from drinking water, household dust and food, and inhalation from airborne particles) showed that the Longgang area had the highest daily intake of As and Pb among the three areas, while the lowest daily intake of As and Pb occurred in the control area (Shuntain). A significant correlation between the doses of daily intake and urinary concentrations of As (p = 0.002) and Pb (p = 0.020) was observed. This correlation suggests that the increase of unit dose of the daily intake for As resulted in an increase of 0.953 microg g(-1) creatinine of As, whereas the increase of unit dose of the daily intake for Pb led to an increase of 0.053 microg g(-1) creatinine of Pb. These data indicate that the level of As in urine increased about 18 times higher than that of Pb for the same amount of increase in daily intake.
Chiang
Wan-Fu
WF
Department and Graduate School of Safety Health and Environment Engineering, National Yunlin University of Science & Technology, Yunlin, Taiwan, Republic of China.
Yang
Hao-Jan
HJ
Lung
Shih-Chun Candice
SC
Huang
Shuai
S
Chiu
Chih-Yuan
CY
Liu
I-Ling
IL
Tsai
Ching-Ling
CL
Kuo
Chung-Yih
CY
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001151:Arsenic / Q000032:analysis / Q000652:urine; D001822:Body Burden; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D003032:Coal Mining; D004391:Dust / Q000032:analysis; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D019570:Inhalation Exposure / Q000032:analysis; D007854:Lead / Q000032:analysis / Q000652:urine; D008297:Male; D016011:Normal Distribution; D011210:Power Plants; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013624:Taiwan; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis
D004391:Dust; D012989:Soil Pollutants; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D007854:Lead; D001151:Arsenic