title: Levels of rare earth elements, heavy metals and uranium in a population living in Baiyun Obo, Inner Mongolia, China: a pilot study.
abstract: The Baiyun Obo deposit is the world's largest rare earth elements (REE) deposit. We aimed to investigate levels of REE, heavy metals (HMs) and uranium (U) based on morning urine samples in a population in Baiyun Obo and to assess the possible influence of rare earth mining processes on human exposure. In the mining area, elevated levels were found for the sum of the concentrations of light REE (LREE) and heavy REE (HREE) with mean values at 3.453 and 1.151 μg g(-1) creatinine, which were significantly higher than those in the control area. Concentrations of HMs and U in the population increased concomitantly with increasing REE levels. The results revealed that besides REE, HMs and U were produced with REE exploitation. Gender, age, educational level, alcohol and smoking habit were major factors contributing to inter-individual variation. Males were more exposed to these metals than females. Concentrations in people in the senior age group and those with only primary education were low. Drinking and smoking were associated with the levels of LREE, Cr, Cu, Cd and Pb in morning urine. Hence this study provides basic and useful information when addressing public and environmental health challenges in the areas where REE are mined and processed.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Land Surface Pattern and Simulation, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Environmental Damage Assessment and Remediation, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Zhe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Land Surface Pattern and Simulation, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Environmental Damage Assessment and Remediation, Beijing 100101, China. Electronic address: yhli@igsnrr.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Yonghua
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Land Surface Pattern and Simulation, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Environmental Damage Assessment and Remediation, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Hairong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Land Surface Pattern and Simulation, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Binggan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Land Surface Pattern and Simulation, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Environmental Damage Assessment and Remediation, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoyong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Land Surface Pattern and Simulation, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China. Electronic address: liangt@igsnrr.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Land Surface Pattern and Simulation, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Jiangping
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D002681:China; D003404:Creatinine / Q000652:urine; D004522:Educational Status; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000652:urine*; D008674:Metals, Rare Earth / Q000652:urine*; D008875:Middle Aged; D008906:Mining / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012737:Sex Factors; D012907:Smoking; D014501:Uranium / Q000652:urine*
chemical_list: D019216:Metals, Heavy; D008674:Metals, Rare Earth; D014501:Uranium; D003404:Creatinine
keywords: Heavy metals; Inter-individual variation; Morning urine; Rare earth elements; Uranium