Kim Sang Hoon, Kim Yang Ho, An Hyun Chan, Sung Joo Hyun, Sim Chang Sun
Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Ulsan University Hospital, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, 877, Bangeojinsunhwando-ro, Dong-gu, Ulsan, 44033 Republic of Korea.
Ann Occup Environ Med. 2017 Jun 26;29:26. doi: 10.1186/s40557-017-0179-7. eCollection 2017.
Populations neighboring industrial complexes are at an increased health risk, due to constant exposure to various potentially hazardous compounds released during industrial production activity. Although there are many previous studies that focus on occupational exposure to heavy metals, studies that focused on environmental exposure to lead and cadmium are relatively rare. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the extent of the environmental exposure of heavy metals in residents of industrial area.
Four areas in close proximity to the Ulsan petrochemical industrial complex and the Onsan national industrial complex were selected to be included in the exposure group, and an area remotely located from these industrial complexes was selected as the non-exposure group. Among the residents of our study areas, a total of 1573 subjects aged 20 years and older were selected and all study subjects completed a written questionnaire. Blood and urine samples were obtained from about one third of the subjects (465 subjects) who provided informed consent for biological sample collection. Total 429 subjects (320 subjects from exposure area, 109 subjects from non-exposure area) were included in final analysis.
The geometric mean blood lead level among the subjects in the exposed group was 2.449 μg/dL, which was significantly higher than the non-exposure group's level of 2.172 μg/dL. Similarly, the geometric mean urine cadmium levels between the two groups differed significantly, at 1.077 μg/g Cr. for the exposed group, and 0.709 μg/g Cr. for the non-exposure group. In a multiple linear regression analysis to determine the relationship between blood lead level and related factors, the results showed that blood lead level had a significant positive correlation with age, the male, exposure area, and non-drinkers. In the same way, urine cadmium level was positively correlated with age, the female, exposure area, and smokers.
This study found that blood lead levels and urine cadmium levels were significantly higher among the residents of industrial areas than among the non-exposure area residents, which is thought to be due to the difference in environmental exposure of lead and cadmium. Furthermore, it was clear that at a low level of exposure, differences in blood lead or urine cadmium levels based on age, gender, and smoking status were greater than the differences based on area of residence. Therefore, when evaluating heavy metal levels in the body at a low level of exposure, age, gender, and smoking status must be adjusted, as they are significant confounding factors.
邻近工业园区的人群健康风险增加，这是由于他们持续接触工业生产活动中释放的各种潜在有害化合物。尽管先前有许多研究关注职业性重金属暴露，但专注于环境中铅和镉暴露的研究相对较少。本研究的目的是评估工业区居民重金属环境暴露的程度。
选择靠近蔚山石化工业园区和温山国家工业园区的四个区域纳入暴露组，并选择一个远离这些工业园区的区域作为非暴露组。在我们研究区域的居民中，共选取了1573名20岁及以上的受试者，所有研究对象均完成了一份书面问卷。从约三分之一同意采集生物样本的受试者（465名受试者）中获取血液和尿液样本。最终分析纳入了429名受试者（320名来自暴露区域，109名来自非暴露区域）。
暴露组受试者的血铅几何平均水平为2.449μg/dL，显著高于非暴露组的2.172μg/dL水平。同样，两组之间的尿镉几何平均水平差异显著，暴露组为1.077μg/g肌酐，非暴露组为0.709μg/g肌酐。在确定血铅水平与相关因素之间关系的多元线性回归分析中，结果显示血铅水平与年龄、男性、暴露区域和不饮酒者呈显著正相关。同样，尿镉水平与年龄、女性、暴露区域和吸烟者呈正相关。
本研究发现，工业区居民的血铅水平和尿镉水平显著高于非暴露区域居民，这被认为是由于铅和镉的环境暴露差异所致。此外，很明显，在低暴露水平下，基于年龄、性别和吸烟状况的血铅或尿镉水平差异大于基于居住区域的差异。因此，在评估低暴露水平下体内重金属水平时，年龄、性别和吸烟状况必须作为显著的混杂因素进行校正。
