Dong Zhao, Bank Michael S, Spengler John D
Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, 665 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts, 160 Holdsworth Way, Amherst, MA 01003, USA.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2015 Jan 19;12(1):952-69. doi: 10.3390/ijerph120100952.
Cement production is a major source of metals and metalloids in the environment, while exposures to metals and metalloids may impact human health in the surrounding communities. We recruited 185 participants living in the vicinity of a cement plant in the northeast U.S., and measured the levels of aluminum (Al), arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), and selenium (Se) in blood and Hg in hair samples from them. A questionnaire was used to assess potential sources of Hg exposure. Multivariate regressions and spatial analyses were performed to evaluate the relative importance of different routes of exposures. The metal concentrations in blood or hair samples of our study participants were comparable to the U.S. general or regional population. Smoking contributed significantly to Cd and Pb exposures, and seafood consumption contributed significantly to Hg and As exposures, while variables related to the cement plant were not significantly associated with metal concentrations. Our results suggest that our study population was not at elevated health risk due to metal exposures, and that the contribution of the cement plant to metal exposures in the surrounding community was minimal.
水泥生产是环境中金属和类金属的主要来源，而接触金属和类金属可能会影响周边社区居民的健康。我们招募了185名居住在美国东北部一家水泥厂附近的参与者，并测量了他们血液中铝（Al）、砷（As）、镉（Cd）、铅（Pb）、汞（Hg）和硒（Se）的含量以及头发样本中的汞含量。使用问卷调查来评估汞暴露的潜在来源。进行了多变量回归和空间分析，以评估不同暴露途径的相对重要性。我们研究参与者血液或头发样本中的金属浓度与美国普通或地区人群相当。吸烟对镉和铅暴露有显著影响，食用海鲜对汞和砷暴露有显著影响，而与水泥厂相关的变量与金属浓度没有显著关联。我们的结果表明，我们的研究人群因金属暴露而面临的健康风险并未增加，并且水泥厂对周边社区金属暴露的贡献极小。
