Institute for Occupational and Environmental Health, Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Int J Hyg Environ Health. 2013 Jun;216(3):255-62. doi: 10.1016/j.ijheh.2012.05.003. Epub 2012 Jun 14.
Arsenic (As) pollution in the surroundings of metal mines has been observed, and may induce serious health problems, in particular cancer. Health hazard attributed to As in contaminated soil and water in the vicinity of closed or abandoned metal mines may be high. Little is known about how environmental exposure to As has affected the health of resident near closed metal mines. The objectives of this study were to compare the urinary level of As for those living near closed metal mines (the exposed group) with that of non-exposed group; and to investigate the correlation between As levels in soil (SoilAs) and water (WaterAs) and the urinary levels (UrineAs) of residents in the exposed group. Data for SoilAs and WaterAs were obtained from the national environmental survey performed between 2003 and 2005 by the Ministry of Environment in Korea. To measure UrineAs, 2674 and 237 subjects were selected from 67 closed metal mines (exposed areas) and two rural areas (non-exposed areas), respectively. Five milliliters of urine samples were taken, and graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry was used to analyze UrineAs. Of all the exposed areas, high SoilAs and WaterAs areas that exceed the Korean standards of As in soil (6 mg/kg-soil) and stream or groundwater (0.05 mg/l-water) were classified to evaluate the health risks in high polluted areas. Also, high UrineAs group was defined as 20 μg/g creatinine or more. Student's t-test was performed to compare the UrineAs level between the exposed and non-exposed groups. The odds ratio (OR) was calculated by a logistic analysis to evaluate the risk for high UrineAs level from high SoilAs and WaterAs areas. The mean of urinary As were 8.90 ± 8.34 μg/g-creatinine for the exposed group and 7.68 ± 4.98 μg/g creatinine for the non-exposed group, respectively; and the significant difference of urinary As level was observed between both groups (p<0.05). Moreover, the means for urinary As of people in areas with high As level in soil and water were significantly higher than that for the control areas (p<0.001), and these differences were more pronounced for the As level in water. The odds of subjects with high UrineAs were positively and significantly associated with living in the areas with high As level in soil (OR=1.62; 95% C.I.=1.13-2.31). These associations were much stronger for the areas with high WaterAs (OR=3.79; 95% C.I.=2.32-6.19). These results indicate that the high level of As in environment may increase the risk of having high urinary As level of people in the exposed areas.
周围金属矿山的砷（As）污染已经被观察到，并且可能会导致严重的健康问题，尤其是癌症。在封闭或废弃的金属矿山附近，受污染土壤和水中的砷可能会对健康造成严重危害。人们对环境中砷暴露如何影响附近居民的健康知之甚少。本研究的目的是比较居住在封闭金属矿山附近（暴露组）的人群的尿砷水平与非暴露组人群的尿砷水平，并探讨暴露组人群土壤（SoilAs）和水中（WaterAs）的砷水平与居民尿砷水平（UrineAs）之间的相关性。土壤砷和水砷的数据来自 2003 年至 2005 年韩国环境部进行的全国环境调查。为了测量尿砷，从 67 个封闭金属矿山（暴露区）和两个农村地区（非暴露区）中分别选择了 2674 名和 237 名受试者。采集 5 毫升尿液样本，使用石墨炉原子吸收光谱法分析尿砷。在所有暴露区中，高土壤砷和高水砷地区（土壤砷含量超过韩国标准 6mg/kg-土壤，溪流或地下水砷含量超过 0.05mg/l-水）被分类以评估高污染地区的健康风险。此外，高尿砷组定义为 20μg/g 肌酐或更高。对暴露组和非暴露组进行学生 t 检验，比较尿砷水平。通过逻辑分析计算高土壤砷和高水砷地区高尿砷水平的风险比（OR）。暴露组的尿砷平均值为 8.90±8.34μg/g-肌酐，非暴露组的尿砷平均值为 7.68±4.98μg/g-肌酐，两组之间的尿砷水平差异有统计学意义（p<0.05）。此外，土壤和水中砷含量较高地区人群的尿砷平均值明显高于对照组（p<0.001），且水中砷含量与对照组差异更为显著。高尿砷患者的可能性与居住在高砷水平的土壤地区呈正相关（OR=1.62；95%CI=1.13-2.31）。与高水砷地区的关联更强（OR=3.79；95%CI=2.32-6.19）。这些结果表明，环境中砷含量较高可能会增加暴露地区人群尿砷水平较高的风险。
