title: Evaluating levels and health risk of heavy metals in exposed workers from surgical instrument manufacturing industries of Sialkot, Pakistan.
abstract: The study aimed to monitor heavy metal (chromium, Cr; cadmium, Cd; nickel, Ni; copper, Cu; lead, Pb; iron, Fe; manganese, Mn; and zinc, Zn) footprints in biological matrices (urine, whole blood, saliva, and hair), as well as in indoor industrial dust samples, and their toxic effects on oxidative stress and health risks in exposed workers. Overall, blood, urine, and saliva samples exhibited significantly higher concentrations of toxic metals in exposed workers (Cr; blood 16.30 μg/L, urine 58.15 μg/L, saliva 5.28 μg/L) than the control samples (Cr; blood 5.48 μg/L, urine 4.47 μg/L, saliva 2.46 μg/L). Indoor industrial dust samples also reported to have elevated heavy metal concentrations, as an example, Cr quantified with concentration of 299 mg/kg of dust, i.e., more than twice the level of Cr in household dust (136 mg/kg). Superoxide dismutase (SOD) level presented significant positive correlation (p ≤ 0.01) with Cr, Zn, and Cd (Cr > Zn > Cd) which is an indication of heavy metal's associated raised oxidative stress in exposed workers. Elevated average daily intake (ADI) of heavy metals resulted in cumulative hazard quotient (HQ) range of 2.97-18.88 in workers of different surgical units; this is an alarming situation of health risk implications. Principal component analysis-multiple linear regression (PCA-MLR)-based pie charts represent that polishing and cutting sections exhibited highest metal inputs to the biological and environmental matrices than other sources. Heavy metal concentrations in biological matrices and dust samples showed a significant positive correlation between Cr in dust, urine, and saliva samples. Current study will help to generate comprehensive base line data of heavy metal status in biomatrices and dust from scientifically ignored industrial sector. Our findings can play vital role for health departments and industrial environmental management system (EMS) authorities in policy making and implementation.
authors.affiliation: Environmental biology and Ecotoxicology laboratory, Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan.|Research Center for Environment and Health, Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology , Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing, 401122, China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Junaid
authors.affiliation: Atmospheric chemistry division, Department of Meteorology, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology Islamabad, Islamabad, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Muhammad Zaffar
authors.initials: MZ
authors.lastname: Hashmi
authors.affiliation: Environmental biology and Ecotoxicology laboratory, Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan. r_n_malik2000@yahoo.co.uk.
authors.forename: Riffat Naseem
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Malik
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002104:Cadmium / Q000032:analysis; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002857:Chromium / Q000032:analysis; D003300:Copper / Q000032:analysis; D004391:Dust / Q000032:analysis; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D006197:Hair / Q000737:chemistry*; D000075322:Heavy Metal Poisoning; D006801:Humans; D007501:Iron / Q000032:analysis; D008345:Manganese / Q000032:analysis; D066192:Manufacturing Industry; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000097:blood* / Q000652:urine*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000139:chemically induced*; D009532:Nickel / Q000032:analysis; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000032:analysis*; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D010154:Pakistan; D011041:Poisoning; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry*; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase / Q000097:blood; D013525:Surgical Instruments; D015032:Zinc / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D004391:Dust; D019216:Metals, Heavy; D002104:Cadmium; D002857:Chromium; D008345:Manganese; D003300:Copper; D009532:Nickel; D007501:Iron; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase; D015032:Zinc
keywords: Biological monitoring; Dust; Health risk assessment; Heavy metals; Oxidative stress; Surgical industry