title: The distance-to-source trend in vanadium and arsenic exposures for residents living near a petrochemical complex.
abstract: Biological monitoring of vanadium (V) and arsenic (As) for residents living near a big petrochemical complex has not been previously studied. This study aims to investigate distance-to-source trends in urinary levels and dispersion-estimated concentrations of V and As in areas surrounding a petrochemical complex in central Taiwan. Our study subjects were 1424 residents living in the townships up to ~40 km from the petrochemical complex, and categorized as near (Zone A), further (Zone B) and furthest (Zone C) from the complex. Urinary and ambient V and As levels were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Two-stage dispersion model was used to estimate V and As concentrations at each study subject's address. Multiple linear regression models were used to study the effects of distance-to-source and estimated air concentrations of V and As on the urinary V and As levels of study subjects. Area-wide levels of both V and As showed a high-to-low trend in urinary levels (μg/g-creatinine) from Zone A (V with 2.86±2.30 and As with 104.6±147.9) to Zone C (V with 0.73±0.72 and As with 73.8±90.8). For study subjects, urinary V and As levels were decreased by 0.09 and 1.17 μg/g-creatinine, respectively, with 1 km away from the emission source of the petrochemical complex, and urinary V levels were significantly elevated by 0.38 μg/g-creatinine with a 1 ng/m(3) increase in estimated ambient V concentrations at their addresses. Our study concludes a distance-to-source gradient in V and As exposures exists for residents living near a petrochemical complex with oil refineries and coal-fired power plants and two-stage dispersion model can predict such a trend for V when inhalation is the major exposure route, but not for As that exposure may be from multiple sources and exposure routes.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Occupational Medicine and Industrial Hygiene, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Tzu-Hsuen
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: Institute of Occupational Medicine and Industrial Hygiene, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chia-Pin
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Chio
authors.affiliation: Institute of Occupational Medicine and Industrial Hygiene, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.|Green Energy and Environment Research Laboratories, Industrial Technology Research Institute, Hsinchu, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ruei-Hao
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Shie
authors.affiliation: Institute of Occupational Medicine and Industrial Hygiene, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Wei-Hsu
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Pien
authors.affiliation: Institute of Occupational Medicine and Industrial Hygiene, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chang-Chuan
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Chan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001151:Arsenic / Q000633:toxicity*; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013624:Taiwan; D014639:Vanadium / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D014639:Vanadium; D001151:Arsenic