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. 2022 Jun 15;19(12):7332.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph19127332.

Estimation of Children's Soil and Dust Ingestion Rates and Health Risk at E-Waste Dismantling Area

Yan Yang  1   2   3 , Mengdi Zhang  1 , Haojia Chen  1   2   3 , Zenghua Qi  1 , Chengcheng Liu  3 , Qiang Chen  4 , Tao Long  4
Affiliations

Estimation of Children's Soil and Dust Ingestion Rates and Health Risk at E-Waste Dismantling Area

Yan Yang et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Due to environmental health concerns, exposure to heavy metals and related adverse effects in electronic waste (e-waste) dismantling areas have attracted considerable interest in the recent years. However, little information is available about the Soil/Dust Ingestion Rates (SIR) of heavy metals for children living in such sites. This study estimated the soil ingestion of 66 children from e-waste disassembly areas by collecting and analyzing selected tracer elements in matched samples of their consumed food, feces, and urine, as well as soil samples from their play areas. The concentrations of tracer elements (including Al, Ba, Ce, Mn, Sc, Ti, Y, and V) in these samples were analyzed. The SIR was estimated to be 148.3 mg/day (median) and 383.3 mg/day (95th percentile) based on the Best Tracer Method (BTM). These values are somewhat higher than those observed in America, Canada, and other parts of China. Health risk assessments showed that Cr presented the greatest carcinogenic risk, at more than 10-6 in this typical polluted area, while As was second. These findings provide important insights into the exposure risks of heavy metals in e-waste dismantling sites and emphasize the health risk caused by Cr and As.

Keywords: children; e-waste; health risk assessment; heavy metal pollution; soil and dust ingestion rates.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that there are no competing financial interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Frequency distribution histogram and outlier box of soil ingestion rate (SIR) based on tracer Al (a), Ba (b), Ce (c), Mn (d), Sc (e), Ti (f), V (g), and Y (h). The * represents mean values, and dot sign represents outliers.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The outlier box plot, minimum, mean, median, and maximum, of SIRs based on the best tracer Al, Ce, Sc, Ti, and Y. The * represents mean values, and dot sign represents outliers.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Frequency distribution histogram based on the BTM. All basic statistical parameters of SIR results are listed by the side of histogram. The * represents mean values, and dot sign represents outliers.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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