Risk assessment of arsenic and other metals via atmospheric particles, and effects of atmospheric exposure and other demographic factors on their accumulations in human scalp hair in urban area of Guangzhou, China

Minjuan Huang, Xunwen Chen, Dingding Shao, Yinge Zhao, Wei Wang, Ming Hung Wong*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

47 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Eighty-eight scalp hair samples were collected from Guangzhou (GZ) urban population (15-65 years) to investigate the accumulation of As and other metals (Cr, Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, Sn, Sb, Hg and Pb). Demographic information, including body weight, height, age, gender, habits of smoking and drinking, types of drinking water, duration of stay in GZ, days of stay in GZ per year (days/year), and hours spent in indoor environment per day (h/day), were also recorded during hair sampling to refine the uncertainty of risk assessment derived from exposures to elements via dust and airborne particles. No significant non-carcinogenic risk was found. However, the cancer risks of Cr and As for both ingestion and inhalation exceeded the most tolerable regulated level (1.0×10-6). The environmental exposures to urban dust and airborne particles were observed significantly correlated to accumulations of Cd (R=0.306, p=0.005) and Ni (R=0.333, p=0.002) in scalp hair. Furthermore, the hair burden of elements was also significantly (p<0.05) dependent on gender (Mn, Ni, Zn, As, Sn and Hg), age (Cr, As, Cd and Hg), duration of stay in GZ (Hg) as well as nutritional and physical status, reflected by BMI and BSA (Cr, Ni, Cd, Sb and Hg). Nutritional and physical status was observed as the exclusive important factor influencing As speciation in human scalp hair. However, habits of smoking and alcohol drinking as well as types of drinking water were not identified as the significant influencing factors on any element (p>0.05).

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)84-92
Number of pages9
JournalEcotoxicology and Environmental Safety
Volume102
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2014

Scopus Subject Areas

  • Pollution
  • Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
  • Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis

User-Defined Keywords

  • As speciation
  • Atmospheric particles
  • Human scalp hair
  • Metals
  • Risk assessment refinement

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