title: Health risks from the exposure of children to As, Se, Pb and other heavy metals near the largest coking plant in China.
abstract: Coking influences environmental quality and poses high risks to human health as large amounts of heavy metals and metalloids are emitted into the environment from coal during the coking process. Health risks depend heavily on multi-pathway and element-specific exposures, which have, unfortunately, been rarely studied. In this study, children's health risks and exposure levels to As, Se, and heavy metals (Pb, Cd, Cr, Ni, Co, Zn, Cu, Mn, V and Sb) in the water, soil, dust, air and locally produced food were studied based on field sampling and questionnaire-based surveys around the largest coking area in China. Human blood samples were collected and analyzed to indicate the exposure levels. The non-carcinogenic risks to children mainly resulted from Cr, Mn, Pb, As and Sb, the levels of which were 3 to 10 times higher than the acceptable levels (1.0×10(-6)). The carcinogenic risks to children were 30 to 200 times higher than the safe level (1.0×10(-6)-1.0×10(-4)), which could be attributed to Cr, As and Ni pollution. The estimated risks mainly came from the pathway involving the ingestion of locally produced food, accounting for more than 85% in total for most elements. For As, the food ingestion and air inhalation exposure pathways both contributed approximately 50%, respectively. The high risks in this study highlight the attention paid to the health of children who live in the vicinity of coking activities and the importance of site-specific multi-pathway health risk assessments and food safety to protect potentially exposed children.
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China; State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China.
authors.forename: Suzhen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China. Electronic address: duan_jasmine@126.com.
authors.forename: Xiaoli
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China.
authors.forename: Xiuge
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China.
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China.
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China.
authors.forename: Nan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Occupational Health and Poison Control, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 102206, China.
authors.forename: Chengye
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China; China National Environmental Monitoring Center, Beijing 100012, China. Electronic address: wfs851317@163.com.
authors.forename: Fusheng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wei
mesh_terms: D001151:Arsenic / Q000032:analysis; D002648:Child; D002681:China; D003077:Coke; D004391:Dust / Q000032:analysis; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D004787:Environmental Pollution / Q000032:analysis* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007854:Lead / Q000032:analysis; D008297:Male; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000032:analysis*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012643:Selenium / Q000032:analysis; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D003077:Coke; D004391:Dust; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D019216:Metals, Heavy; D012987:Soil; D007854:Lead; D012643:Selenium; D001151:Arsenic
keywords: As; Children; Coking plant; Exposure; Health risk; Heavy metals