Environmental and Occupational Health, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR 72205, USA.
Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33146, USA.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2018 Jan 4;15(1):67. doi: 10.3390/ijerph15010067.
Children can be exposed to arsenic through play areas which may have contaminated fill material from historic land use. The objective of the current study was to evaluate the risk to children who play and/or spend time at baseball fields with soils shown to have arsenic above background levels. Arsenic in soils at the study sites located in Miami, FL, USA showed distinct distributions between infield, outfield, and areas adjacent to the fields. Using best estimates of exposure factors for children baseball scenarios, results show that non-cancer risks depend most heavily upon the age of the person and the arsenic exposure level. For extreme exposure scenarios evaluated in this study, children from 1 to 2 years were at highest risk for non-cancer effects (Hazard Quotient, HQ > 2.4), and risks were higher for children exhibiting pica (HQ > 9.7) which shows the importance of testing fill for land use where children may play. At the study sites, concentration levels of arsenic resulted in a range of computed cancer risks that differed by a factor of 10. In these sites, the child's play position also affected risk. Outfield players, with a lifetime exposure to these arsenic levels, could have 10 times more increased chance of experiencing cancers associated with arsenic (i.e., lung, bladder, skin) in comparison to infielders. The distinct concentration distributions observed between these portions of the baseball fields emphasize the need to delineate contaminated areas in public property where citizens may spend more free time. This study also showed a need for more tools to improve the risk estimates for child play activities. For instance, more refined measurements of exposure factors for intake (e.g., inhalation rates under rigorous play activities, hand to mouth rates), exposure frequency (i.e., time spent in various activities) and other exposure factors (e.g., soil particulate emission rates at baseball play fields) can help pinpoint risk on baseball fields where arsenic levels may be a concern.
儿童可能会通过游乐场接触到砷，这些游乐场可能使用了历史上土地使用过程中受到污染的填充材料。本研究的目的是评估在土壤砷含量高于背景水平的棒球场玩耍和/或逗留的儿童面临的风险。美国佛罗里达州迈阿密研究地点的土壤砷显示出场内、场外和场地附近区域之间的明显分布。使用儿童棒球情景下暴露因素的最佳估计值，结果表明，非癌症风险主要取决于人的年龄和砷暴露水平。在本研究中评估的极端暴露情景下，1 至 2 岁的儿童患非癌症的风险最高（危害指数 HQ>2.4），而表现出异食癖的儿童的风险更高（HQ>9.7），这表明在儿童可能玩耍的地方，测试填充物对于土地使用很重要。在研究地点，砷的浓度水平导致计算出的癌症风险差异很大，相差 10 倍。在这些地点，儿童的玩耍位置也会影响风险。与内场球员相比，在外场球员一生中接触这些砷水平，患与砷有关的癌症（即肺癌、膀胱癌、皮肤癌）的几率可能增加 10 倍。这些棒球场不同部位之间观察到的明显浓度分布强调了需要划定公共财产中受污染的区域，公民可以在这些区域内花费更多的自由时间。本研究还表明，需要更多的工具来提高儿童玩耍活动的风险估计。例如，更精细地测量摄入的暴露因素（例如，在严格的玩耍活动下的吸入率、手到嘴的比率）、暴露频率（即，在各种活动中花费的时间）和其他暴露因素（例如，棒球场玩耍时的土壤颗粒排放率），可以帮助确定砷含量可能令人担忧的棒球场的风险。
