Department of Preventive Medicine , University of Southern California , Los Angeles California 90032 , United States.
Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health , Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai , New York , New York 10029 , United States.
Environ Sci Technol. 2019 May 21;53(10):6000-6006. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.9b00429. Epub 2019 May 6.
Lead (Pb) is a potent neurotoxicant with no safe level of exposure. Elevated levels of Pb and arsenic (As) are found in the air and soil near facilities that recycle lead-acid batteries in the United States. In urban Los Angeles County, California, a facility processed ∼11 million batteries per year and operated for decades without proper environmental review. Measuring Pb and As in shed deciduous teeth is a promising technique to assess prenatal and early life exposure. In this pilot study coined the "Truth Fairy" Project, 50 shed deciduous teeth from 43 children living their entire lives within 2 miles of the smelter were analyzed to understand retrospective exposure to toxic metals using a community-driven research approach. Concentrations of Pb and As in teeth were assessed using laser-ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. Soil Pb concentrations were determined using spatial kriging of surface soil measurements. The mean prenatal calcium normalized Pb levels in teeth samples (reported as a ratio Pb:Ca) was 4.104 × 10 (SD 4.123 × 10), and the mean postnatal Pb:Ca level was 4.109 × 10 (SD 3.369 × 10). Adjusted for maternal education and batch, we observe positive significant relationship between prenatal teeth Pb per 100 ppm increase in soil Pb (β = 3.48, 95% CI 1.11, 5.86). The Truth Fairy study suggests prenatal and early life exposure to toxic metals is associated with legacy soil contamination in an urban community near a smelter.
铅（Pb）是一种强有力的神经毒素，不存在安全暴露水平。在美国，回收铅酸电池的设施附近的空气和土壤中发现铅和砷（As）含量升高。在加利福尼亚州洛杉矶县市区，一家工厂每年处理约 1100 万节电池，并且在没有经过适当环境审查的情况下运营了几十年。测量脱落乳牙中的 Pb 和 As 是评估产前和生命早期暴露的有前途的技术。在这个被称为“真相仙女”项目的试点研究中，分析了 43 名儿童的 50 颗脱落乳牙，这些儿童一生都生活在距离冶炼厂 2 英里范围内，以了解使用社区驱动的研究方法对有毒金属的回溯性暴露。使用激光烧蚀电感耦合等离子体质谱法评估牙齿中的 Pb 和 As 浓度。使用表面土壤测量的空间克里金法确定土壤 Pb 浓度。牙齿样本中产前钙归一化 Pb 水平的平均值（报告为 Pb:Ca 比值）为 4.104×10（SD 4.123×10），出生后 Pb:Ca 水平的平均值为 4.109×10（SD 3.369×10）。调整母体教育和批次后，我们观察到产前牙齿 Pb 与土壤 Pb 每增加 100ppm 呈正相关（β=3.48，95%CI 1.11，5.86）。“真相仙女”研究表明，在冶炼厂附近的城市社区中，产前和生命早期接触有毒金属与遗留土壤污染有关。
