Biomonitoring and health risks assessment of trace elements in various age- and gender-groups exposed to road dust in habitable urban-industrial areas of Hefei, China

Muhammad Ubaid Ali; Guijian Liu; Balal Yousaf; Habib Ullah; Qumber Abbas; Mehr Ahmed Mujtaba Munir; Samina Irshad

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2018.10.084

Biomonitoring and health risks assessment of trace elements in various age- and gender-groups exposed to road dust in habitable urban-industrial areas of Hefei, China

Environ Pollut. 2019 Jan:244:809-817. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2018.10.084. Epub 2018 Oct 26.

Authors

Muhammad Ubaid Ali¹, Guijian Liu², Balal Yousaf³, Habib Ullah⁴, Qumber Abbas⁵, Mehr Ahmed Mujtaba Munir⁶, Samina Irshad⁷

Affiliations

¹ CAS-Key Laboratory of Crust-Mantle Materials and the Environments, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, Anhui, China; State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China. Electronic address: ubaid@mail.ustc.edu.cn.
² CAS-Key Laboratory of Crust-Mantle Materials and the Environments, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, Anhui, China; State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China. Electronic address: lgj@ustc.edu.cn.
³ CAS-Key Laboratory of Crust-Mantle Materials and the Environments, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, Anhui, China; State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China. Electronic address: balal@ustc.edu.cn.
⁴ CAS-Key Laboratory of Crust-Mantle Materials and the Environments, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, Anhui, China. Electronic address: Habib901@mail.ustc.edu.cn.
⁵ CAS-Key Laboratory of Crust-Mantle Materials and the Environments, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, Anhui, China. Electronic address: qumber@mail.ustc.edu.cn.
⁶ CAS-Key Laboratory of Crust-Mantle Materials and the Environments, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, Anhui, China. Electronic address: muju212@mail.ustc.edu.cn.
⁷ CAS-Key Laboratory of Crust-Mantle Materials and the Environments, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, Anhui, China. Electronic address: saminakhan@mail.ustc.edu.cn.

PMID: 30390454
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2018.10.084

Abstract

The current study investigates the concentration of eleven trace elements in biomaterials including hair (85) and nails (85) along with seventy five (75) road dust samples collected from a healthy population of habitable urban-industrial areas of Hefei, China. The samples were acid digested and analyzed using ICP-MS for trace elements content. The mean concentration of Elements followed descending order of Zn > Mg > Fe > Cr > Al > Sn > Sr > Ti > Cu > As > Cd and Mg > Zn > Fe > Cr > Al > Sn > Ti > Cu > Sr > As > Cd in hair and nails, respectively. Overall, the concentration of elements was found to be high in female subject as compared to male. The concentration of trace elements in hair and nail exceeded the maximum permissible limits in most cases. The corresponding mean values from dust samples were fairly high as compared to background values of trace elements. Middle age groups (21-30 years and 31-40 years) were observed to be the most vulnerable there-by posing a high health risk, as the concentration of trace elements was significantly high in these groups except for Al, which was detected high in age < 20 in case of both male and female. A significantly high correlation was found between trace elements in biomaterials and those detected in dust samples. In hair samples, a significantly positive correlation was noticed for As with Mg, Zn, Sn and Fe, Sn/Mg and Mg/Ti. In the case of nails, a significant correlation was observed for elements like Al, Mg, Zn, Cr, and Cu. The Cluster and principal component analysis revealed industrial and vehicular emissions as main sources for trace elements exposure in humans.

Keywords: Bioindicators; Hair; Human biomonitoring; Nails; Potentially toxic elements; Road dust.

MeSH terms

Adult
China
Dust / analysis*
Environmental Exposure*
Environmental Monitoring / methods*
Female
Hair / chemistry*
Health Status Indicators
Humans
Industry
Male
Metals / analysis*
Middle Aged
Nails / chemistry*
Principal Component Analysis
Risk
Spectrum Analysis
Trace Elements / analysis*
Vehicle Emissions / analysis*
Young Adult

Substances

Dust
Metals
Trace Elements
Vehicle Emissions