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Trace Element Exposure and Human Health

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A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Science and Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2020) | Viewed by 22124

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Prof. Dr. Marco Vinceti

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Guest Editor

1. Department of Biomedical, Metabolic and Neural Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via G. Campi 287, 41125 Modena, Italy
2. Department of Epidemiology, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02118, USA
Interests: epidemiology; environment; public health; selenium; heavy metals; childhood leukemia; neurodegenerative disease

Special Issue Information

Dear colleagues,

There is large and compelling evidence that trace elements, including metals and metalloids, have have both nutritional and toxicological properties, and play a role in the etiology of several human diseases.

In general, the biological functions of trace elements and their ability to influence human health depend on many factors, such as the specific element and its chemical form, the amount and source of exposure, and the nutritional status and possible peculiar susceptibilities of the individual. For some elements, both a low (deficient) and a high (toxic) intake is associated with health risks.

However, many uncertainties still exist about the exact influence of several trace elements on human health, and about their adequate dietary reference values in the human, thus warranting the implementation of further research in these relevant issues

Prof. Dr. Marco Vinceti
Guest Editor

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Keywords

Trace elements
environment
exposure
health
humans
metals
metalloids
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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 330 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Comparison of Methodologies to Estimate Dietary Cadmium Intake in an Italian Population

by Tommaso Filippini, Kristen Upson, Giorgia Adani, Carlotta Malagoli, Claudia Baraldi, Bernhard Michalke and Marco Vinceti

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(7), 2264; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph17072264 - 27 Mar 2020

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2488

Abstract

Cadmium is a metal that is toxic to humans, and the major source of cadmium exposure in the non-smoking general population is diet. To identify major food sources and lower exposure from diet, an accurate estimate of dietary cadmium intake is needed. Hence, the objectives of this study are to develop a method to assess dietary cadmium intake using a biomarker measurement and to improve the estimation of dietary cadmium intake when using a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). In a random sample of an Italian population, we collected dietary habits by FFQ and measured cadmium in foods and beverages. These data were used to compute the estimated weekly dietary intake (WDI) of cadmium (µg) by kilogram (kg) of body weight (bw) (WDI_FFQ). We also measured fasting serum cadmium levels by inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry. We used these data to develop a model for the estimation of the biomarker-derived dietary cadmium intake (WDI_bio). In the 51 subjects recruited, the median level of serum cadmium was 0.041 µg/L (interquartile range (IQR): 0.030–0.054). The median WDI_FFQ and WDI_bio were 1.34 µg/kg bw/week (IQR: 0.86–1.70) and 0.72 µg/kg bw/week (IQR: 0.55–1.11), respectively. The correlation between the two estimates was low-to-moderate (r = 0.291). In exploratory analyses, the correlation was slightly higher in women and participants ages <50 years, and markedly higher in participants with body mass index <25 kg/m² and smokers. Our approach allows for the dietary contribution to be isolated from the overall cadmium exposure measured with a biomarker; the estimated dietary cadmium intake was roughly similar to that estimated using the FFQ, especially in select subgroups. Future refinements to the biomarker-derived dietary cadmium intake approach should take into consideration additional sources of cadmium exposure, as well as factors affecting its absorption and metabolism. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Trace Element Exposure and Human Health)

13 pages, 1636 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Health Risk Assessment and Source Apportionment of Mercury, Lead, Cadmium, Selenium, and Manganese in Japanese Women: An Adjunct Study to the Japan Environment and Children’s Study

by Chaochen Ma, Miyuki Iwai-Shimada, Nozomi Tatsuta, Kunihiko Nakai, Tomohiko Isobe, Mai Takagi, Yukiko Nishihama and Shoji F. Nakayama

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(7), 2231; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph17072231 - 26 Mar 2020

Cited by 19 | Viewed by 4493

Abstract

Toxic element pollution is a serious global health concern that has been attracting considerable research. In this study, we elucidated the major routes of exposure to three toxic elements (mercury, cadmium, and lead) and two essential elements (manganese and selenium) through diet, soil, house dust, and indoor air and assessed the potential health risks from these elements on women from the coastal area of Miyagi prefecture, Japan. Twenty-four-hour duplicate diet, house dust, soil, and indoor air samples were collected from 37 participants. Cd, Pb, Mn, and Se concentrations were measured using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, and Hg concentrations using cold vapor atomic absorption spectrometry. We found that soil and house dust were the primary reservoirs of these elements. Diet contributed most strongly to the daily intake of these elements, with mean values of 0.72, 0.25, 0.054, 47, and 0.94 μg/kg/day for Hg, Cd, Pb, Mn, and Se, respectively. The mean hazard quotient of Hg was 1.53, indicating a high potential health risk from Hg exposure in daily lives. The intakes of other elements were below the tolerable limits. Future studies with a larger sample size are warranted to confirm our findings. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Trace Element Exposure and Human Health)

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16 pages, 32388 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Novel Approach for Indexing Heavy Metals Pollution to Assess Groundwater Quality for Drinking Purposes

by Elsiddig Eldaw, Tao Huang, Basheer Elubid, Adam Khalifa Mahamed and Yahaya Mahama

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(4), 1245; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph17041245 - 14 Feb 2020

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2688

Abstract

The present study proposes a new approach for indexing heavy metals ions to examine groundwater quality in North Kurdufan Province, Sudan. The new approach is developed based on the most frequently used methods for indexing heavy metals pollution in water. It is created in order to avoid the weaknesses of the current indexing systems. As per the new indexing approach, heavy metal contamination in water samples is evaluated by two types of indices: the negative evaluation index (NEI) and positive evaluation index (PEI). The water worthiness is assessed based on a pair of indices, NEI and PEI. Water quality increases with the decrease of PEI and NEI values. NEI indicates the contribution of heavy metals with a concentration not exceeding the highest desirable limit (

I_{i}

) in the water sample, while vice versa regarding the PEI. If all heavy metals concentrations in the water sample do not exceed

I_{i}

, the sum of NEI should be less than zero, but not less than −100, implying that the sum of PEI will be zero. When all heavy metals concentration exceeds

I_{i}

, the sum of NEI should be equal to zero, and PEI will be greater than zero. The results of the newly proposed approach have been discussed and compared with the existing indexing methods as regards to the best and worst samples. The spatial distribution of NEI and PEI are in complete agreement with the metals spatial distribution. The comparison result showed that the new index is robust, with fair calculations, and gives the best classification of groundwater quality. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Trace Element Exposure and Human Health)

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13 pages, 2857 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Fe, Rather Than Soil Organic Matter, as a Controlling Factor of Hg Distribution in Subsurface Forest Soil in an Iron Mining Area

by Rui Qu, Guilin Han, Man Liu, Kunhua Yang, Xiaoqiang Li and Jinke Liu

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(1), 359; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph17010359 - 05 Jan 2020

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2585

Abstract

To identify whether the iron (Fe) mining area in the Jiulongjiang River basin (JRB) has an influence on the mercury in the forest soil, the spatial distribution patterns of mercury’s behavior on different controlling factors were analyzed, and a potential ecological risk assessment was done. A total of 107 soil samples were collected from two forest soil profiles, one profile near the Fe mining area and the other far from it. The soil near the mining area had a moderate potential ecological risk with high Fe content rich in the upper layer of soil (<70 cm), whereas soil collected far from the mining area had a low potential ecological risk. These results indicated that the rise of iron content in the soil near the mining area was beneficial to the enrichment of mercury, probably causing damage to the forest ecosystem. Both soil organic carbon (SOC) and Fe content have strong positive correlations with THg content, controlling the mercury behavior in the upper layer (<70 cm) and a lower layer (>70 cm) of soil, respectively. The high Fe content in the upper layer of soil will compete for the adsorption of mercury by SOC, leading to the poor correlation between SOC and THg. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Trace Element Exposure and Human Health)

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15 pages, 3062 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Human Blood Lead Levels and the First Evidence of Environmental Exposure to Industrial Pollutants in the Amazon

by Thaís Karolina Lisboa de Queiroz, Karytta Sousa Naka, Lorena de Cássia dos Santos Mendes, Brenda Natasha Souza Costa, Iracina Maura de Jesus, Volney de Magalhães Câmara and Marcelo de Oliveira Lima

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16(17), 3047; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph16173047 - 22 Aug 2019

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3146

Abstract

The main routes of lead (Pb) absorption are through the airways and orally, and through consumption of contaminated food and beverage, with Pb mainly being absorbed in the atmospheric particulate form. In 2012, a cross-sectional study was performed to evaluate the Pb environmental exposure in two Amazonian districts, Dom Manuel (DMN) and Laranjal (CLA), located in Barcarena City, northern Brazil. CLA is located outside the industrial area of Barcarena (control population), whereas DMN is an old community located in the vicinity of industrial activities. A significant number of residents in these districts participated in an epidemiological inquiry and blood sampling. Total Pb blood levels were quantified using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The mean Pb blood level in people that live in DMN was 281.60 (98.73–570.80) μg·L⁻¹, approximately nine times higher than the level found in CLA (32.77 μg·L⁻¹). In these districts, the Pb blood levels showed statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) based on gender, schooling, residence time, and smoking. This is the first evidence of industrial environmental pollutant exposure in the Amazon. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Trace Element Exposure and Human Health)

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17 pages, 3222 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Environmental Risk Assessment of Metals in the Volcanic Soil of Changbai Mountain

by Qing Ma, Lina Han, Jiquan Zhang, Yichen Zhang, Qiuling Lang, Fengxu Li, Aru Han, Yongbin Bao, Kaiwei Li and Si Alu

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16(11), 2047; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph16112047 - 10 Jun 2019

Cited by 28 | Viewed by 5984

Abstract

Tianchi volcano is a dormant active volcano with a risk of re-eruption. Volcanic soil and volcanic ash samples were collected around the volcano and the concentrations of 21 metals (major and trace elements) were determined. The spatial distribution of the metals was obtained by inverse distance weight (IDW) interpolation. The metals’ sources were identified and their pollution levels were assessed to determine their potential ecological and human health risks. The metal concentrations were higher around Tianchi and at the north to the west of the study area. According to the geo-accumulation index (I_geo), enrichment factor (EF) and contamination factor (CF) calculations, Zn pollution was high in the study area. Pearson’s correlation analysis and principal component analysis showed that with the exception of Fe, Mn and As, the metals that were investigated (Al, K, Ca, Na, Mg, Ti, Cu, Pb, Zn, Cr, Ni, Ba, Ga, Li, Co, Cd, Sn, Sr) were mostly naturally derived. A small proportion of Li, Pb and Zn may have come from vehicle traffic. There is no potential ecological risk and non-carcinogenic risk because of the low concentrations of the metals; however, it is necessary to pay attention to the carcinogenic risk of Cr and As in children. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Trace Element Exposure and Human Health)

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