title: Soil ingestion rates for children under 3 years old in Taiwan.
abstract: Soil and dust ingestion rates by children are among the most critical exposure factors in determining risks to children from exposures to environmental contaminants in soil and dust. We believe this is the first published soil ingestion study for children in Taiwan using tracer element methodology. In this study, 66 children under 3 years of age were enrolled from Taiwan. Three days of fecal samples and a 24-h duplicate food sample were collected. The soil and household dust samples were also collected from children's homes. Soil ingestion rates were estimated based on silicon (Si) and titanium (Ti). The average soil ingestion rates were 9.6±19.2 mg/day based on Si as a tracer. The estimated soil ingestion rates based on Si did not have statistically significant differences by children's age and gender, although the average soil ingestion rates clearly increased as a function of children's age category. The estimated soil ingestion rates based on Si was significantly and positively correlated with the sum of indoor and outdoor hand-to-mouth frequency rates. The average soil ingestion rates based on Si were generally lower than the results from previous studies for the US children. Ti may not be a suitable tracer for estimating soil ingestion rates in Taiwan because the Ti dioxide is a common additive in food. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that investigated the correlations between soil ingestion rates and mouthing behaviors in Taiwan or other parts of Asia. It is also the first study that could compare available soil ingestion data from different countries and/or different cultures. The hand-to-mouth frequency and health habits are important to estimate the soil ingestion exposure for children. The results in this study are particularly important when assessing children's exposure and potential health risk from nearby contaminated soils in Taiwan.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ling-Chu
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Chien
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ming-Chien
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Tsou
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Environmental Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Hsing-Cheng
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Hsi
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
authors.forename: Paloma
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Beamer
authors.affiliation: National Exposure Research Laboratory, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (D205-05), Research Triangle Park, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bradham
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural Chemistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Zeng-Yei
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Hseu
authors.affiliation: Department of Soil and Water Conservation, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Pingtung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Shih-Hao
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Jien
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Taipei Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.|Mackay Junior College of Medicine, Nursing and Management, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chuen-Bin
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Winston
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Dang
authors.affiliation: National Exposure Research Laboratory, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (D205-05), Research Triangle Park, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Halûk
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Özkaynak
mesh_terms: D017677:Age Distribution; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004391:Dust / Q000032:analysis; D004435:Eating; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis; D005243:Feces / Q000737:chemistry; D005260:Female; D005504:Food Analysis; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D012825:Silicon / Q000032:analysis*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry; D013624:Taiwan; D014025:Titanium / Q000032:analysis; D014131:Trace Elements / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D004391:Dust; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D012987:Soil; D014131:Trace Elements; D014025:Titanium; D012825:Silicon