title: Arsenic in residential soil and household dust in Cornwall, south west England: potential human exposure and the influence of historical mining.
abstract: Exposure to arsenic (As) via residential soil and dust is a global concern, in regions affected by mining or with elevated concentrations present in underlying geology. Cornwall in south west England is one such area. Residential soil (n = 127) and household dust (n = 99) samples were collected from across Cornwall as part of a wider study assessing exposure to environmental As. Samples were analysed for total As (soil and dust samples) and human ingestion bioaccessible As (soil samples from properties with home-grown produce). Arsenic concentrations ranged from 12 to 992 mg kg-1in soil and 3 to 1079 mg kg-1in dust and were significantly higher in areas affected by metalliferous mineralisation. Sixty-nine percent of soils exceeded the 37 mg kg-1Category 4 Screening Level (C4SL), a generic assessment criteria for As in residential soils in England, which assumes 100% bioavailability following ingestion. The proportion of exceedance was reduced to 13% when the bioavailability parameter in the CLEA model was changed to generate household specific bioaccessibility adjusted assessment criteria (ACBIO). These criteria were derived using bioaccessibility data for a sub-set of individual household vegetable patch soils (n = 68). Proximity to former As mining locations was found to be a significant predictor of soil As concentration. This study highlights the value of bioaccessibility measurements and their potential for adjusting generic assessment criteria.
authors.affiliation: School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, Williamson Research Centre for Molecular Environmental Science, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK.
authors.forename: Daniel R S
authors.initials: DRS
authors.lastname: Middleton
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Watts
authors.forename: Darren J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Beriro
authors.forename: Elliott M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Hamilton
authors.forename: Giovanni S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Leonardi
authors.forename: Tony
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fletcher
authors.forename: Rebecca M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Close
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Polya
mesh_terms: D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000032:analysis*; D001151:Arsenic / Q000032:analysis*; D004391:Dust / Q000032:analysis*; D004739:England; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D006798:Housing; D006801:Humans; D008906:Mining; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D004391:Dust; D012989:Soil Pollutants; D001151:Arsenic