title: Arsenic levels in immigrant children from countries at risk of consuming arsenic polluted water compared to children from Barcelona.
abstract: Arsenic is a highly toxic element that pollutes groundwater, being a major environmental problem worldwide, especially in the Bengal Basin. About 40% of patients in our outpatient clinics come from those countries, and there is no published data about their arsenic exposure. This study compares arsenic exposure between immigrant and native children. A total of 114 children (57 natives, 57 immigrants), aged 2 months to 16 years, were recruited and sociodemographic and environmental exposure data were recorded. Total arsenic in urine, hair, and nails and arsenic-speciated compounds in urine were determined. We did not find significant differences in total and inorganic arsenic levels in urine and hair, but in organic arsenic monomethylarsenic acid (MMA) and dimethylarsinous acid (DMA) in urine and in total arsenic in nails. However, these values were not in the toxic range. There were significant differences between longer than 5 years exposure and less than 5 years exposure (consumption of water from tube wells), with respect to inorganic and organic MMA arsenic in urine and total arsenic in nails. There was partial correlation between the duration of exposure and inorganic arsenic levels in urine. Immigrant children have higher arsenic levels than native children, but they are not toxic. At present, there is no need for specific arsenic screening or follow-up in immigrant children recently arrived in Spain from exposure high-risk countries.
authors.affiliation: Unitat de Recerca Infància i Entorn (URIE), Institut Hospital del Mar d'Investigacions Mèdiques (IMIM), Barcelona, Spain. sergiyllw@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Piñol
authors.affiliation: Unitat de Recerca Infància i Entorn (URIE), Institut Hospital del Mar d'Investigacions Mèdiques (IMIM), Barcelona, Spain. annacleta333@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sala
authors.affiliation: Pediatría, CAP Ciutat Vella, Institut Català de la Salut, Barcelona, Spain. 39105cgm@comb.es.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Guzman
authors.affiliation: Pediatría, CAP Ciutat Vella, Institut Català de la Salut, Barcelona, Spain. susanamarcosal@yahoo.es.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Marcos
authors.affiliation: Unitat de Recerca Infància i Entorn (URIE), Institut Hospital del Mar d'Investigacions Mèdiques (IMIM), Barcelona, Spain. jjoya@imim.es.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Joya
authors.affiliation: Unitat de Recerca Infància i Entorn (URIE), Institut Hospital del Mar d'Investigacions Mèdiques (IMIM), Barcelona, Spain. carmepuig@yahoo.es.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Puig
authors.affiliation: Unitat de Recerca Infància i Entorn (URIE), Institut Hospital del Mar d'Investigacions Mèdiques (IMIM), Barcelona, Spain. martavrb@gmail.com.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Velasco
authors.affiliation: Departament de Pediatria, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. deni@iata.csic.es.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Velez
authors.affiliation: Unitat de Recerca Infància i Entorn (URIE), Institut Hospital del Mar d'Investigacions Mèdiques (IMIM), Barcelona, Spain. OVall@hospitaldelmar.cat.|Departamento de Conservación y Calidad de los Alimentos, Instituto de Agroquímica y Tecnología de Slimentos (IATA-CSIC), Valencia, Spain. OVall@hospitaldelmar.cat.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Vall
authors.affiliation: Unitat de Recerca Infància i Entorn (URIE), Institut Hospital del Mar d'Investigacions Mèdiques (IMIM), Barcelona, Spain. 90458@hospitaldelmar.cat.|Departamento de Conservación y Calidad de los Alimentos, Instituto de Agroquímica y Tecnología de Slimentos (IATA-CSIC), Valencia, Spain. 90458@hospitaldelmar.cat.|Unitat de Recerca Infància i Entorn (URIE), Institut Hospital del Mar d'Investigacions Mèdiques (IMIM) - Parc de Recerca Biomèdica de Barcelona (PRBB), C/ Dr. Aiguader, 88, 08003, Barcelona, Spain. 90458@hospitaldelmar.cat.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Garcia-Algar
mesh_terms: D001149:Arsenates; D001151:Arsenic / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood*; D002101:Cacodylic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005260:Female; D006197:Hair / Q000737:chemistry; D015386:Hazardous Substances; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009262:Nails / Q000737:chemistry; D013030:Spain; D014867:Water; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D001149:Arsenates; D015386:Hazardous Substances; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; C472511:dimethylarsinous acid; D014867:Water; D002101:Cacodylic Acid; D001151:Arsenic; C025657:arsenic acid
keywords: Arsenic; Children; Hair; Immigrants; Nails; Urinary arsenic level