title: Relationship between firewood usage and urinary Cr, Cu and As in informal areas of Cape Town.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The study investigated whether wood usage by informal food vendors and household residents in Cape Town results in the absorption of arsenic (As), chromium (Cr) and copper (Cu) owing to release of these metals in the burning of chromated copper arsenate (CCA)-treated wood.
  
  
  METHODS
  The participants (N=78) selected included an equal number of food vendors and non-vendors from 2 informal settlements. All participants answered a questionnaire concerning exposure and were tested for urinary Cr, Cu and As, while the urine of 29 participants was also tested for toxic As (As(tox)).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Multivariate analysis showed that the time spent in close proximity to the wood, as well as the quantity of wood used for cooking and for household use, was weakly positively associated with urinary levels of As, Cr and the sum of As, Cr and Cu.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study provides evidence that use of wood likely to contain CCA as a fuel for informal food outlets and household purposes may increase the absorption of inorganic As, Cu and Cr.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health Research, School of Public Health and Family Medicine, University of Cape Town, South Africa. aqiel.dalvie@uct.ac.za.
authors.forename: Mohamed Aqiel
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Dalvie
authors.forename: Algernon
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Africa
authors.forename: Sivapregasen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Naidoo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001149:Arsenates; D001151:Arsenic / Q000652:urine*; D002857:Chromium / Q000652:urine*; D003300:Copper / Q000652:urine*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D013019:South Africa; D014934:Wood
chemical_list: D001149:Arsenates; D002857:Chromium; C040890:chromated copper arsenate; D003300:Copper; D001151:Arsenic