Kok Victor C, Winn Paul R, Hsieh Yi-Jer, Chien Jien-Wen, Yang Jer-Ming, Yeh Guang-Perng
Department of Internal Medicine, Kuang Tien General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
Disease Informatics Research Group, Asia University, Taichung, Taiwan.
Environ Health Insights. 2019 Jul 19;13:1178630219862236. doi: 10.1177/1178630219862236. eCollection 2019.
A limited number of potentially hazardous trace elements were quantified in the aquatic environment near the world's second largest coal-fired power plant (CFPP) and the coal combustion residual (CCR) disposition sites in Central Taiwan. We postulated that contamination from specific trace elements would be present in the abovementioned aquatic environments.
Cross-sectional sampling of trace elements was first performed between September 24, 2017 and October 3, 2017 outside the CFPP, in the effluent sampled from Changhua, a county south of metropolitan Taichung, and at the historical CCR disposal sites, using the intertidal zone surface seawater and the seawater in an oyster farm as controls. Aqueous samples were collected from 12 locations for analysis of 13 trace elements (Al, As, B, Cd, total Cr, Co, Fe, Pb, Mn, Se, Sr, Tl, and V). We used inductively coupled plasma (ICP) optical emission spectrometry to determine B and Fe levels, and ICP mass spectrometry for all other trace elements. The Spearman rank correlation coefficient (Rho) was calculated to examine the pairwise relation among the trace elements.
Al (50% of all samples), B (66.7%), Fe (25%), Mn (50%), Sr (8.3%), and V (25%) were identified as being above the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulation limit. The oyster farm seawater had no concerns. Mn (96.4 μg/L) in the CFPP drainage effluent was 1.9-fold above the regulation limit. Fe, Mn, and V were detected from the cooling channel at 4379, 625, and 11.3 μg/L, respectively. The effluent and water from the areas surrounding the 2 CCR dump sites revealed similar magnitudes of trace element contamination. B is highly correlated with Sr (Rho = 0.94, 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.80-0.98). Meanwhile, Fe is highly correlated with Al (Rho = 0.77), Pb (Rho = 0.71), Co (Rho = 0.75), and V (Rho = 0.84).
The EPA must set an explicit regulation limit for aluminum, boron, iron, and strontium in the aquatic environment. This exploratory research will inform policymaking regarding certain trace elements that could potentially have an adverse impact on public health and wildlife.
对位于台湾中部的世界第二大燃煤发电厂（CFPP）附近的水生环境以及煤燃烧残余物（CCR）处置场地中的一些潜在有害微量元素进行了定量分析。我们推测上述水生环境中会存在特定微量元素的污染。
于2017年9月24日至10月3日期间，首先在CFPP外、从台中市南部的彰化县采集的污水以及历史CCR处置场地进行了微量元素的横断面采样，以潮间带表层海水和牡蛎养殖场的海水作为对照。从12个地点采集水样，分析13种微量元素（铝、砷、硼、镉、总铬、钴、铁、铅、锰、硒、锶、铊和钒）。我们使用电感耦合等离子体（ICP）发射光谱法测定硼和铁的含量，使用ICP质谱法测定所有其他微量元素的含量。计算斯皮尔曼等级相关系数（Rho）以检验微量元素之间的成对关系。
铝（占所有样本的50%）、硼（66.7%）、铁（25%）、锰（50%）、锶（8.3%）和钒（25%）被确定超出美国环境保护局（EPA）的监管限值。牡蛎养殖场的海水不存在此类问题。CFPP排水中的锰（96.4μg/L）比监管限值高出1.9倍。在冷却通道中检测到铁、锰和钒，浓度分别为4379、625和11.3μg/L。两个CCR倾倒场地周边区域的污水和水体显示出相似程度的微量元素污染。硼与锶高度相关（Rho = 0.94，95%置信区间[CI]，0.80 - 0.98）。同时，铁与铝（Rho = 0.77）、铅（Rho = 0.71）、钴（Rho = 0.75）和钒（Rho = 0.84）高度相关。
EPA必须针对水生环境中的铝、硼、铁和锶设定明确的监管限值。这项探索性研究将为有关某些可能对公众健康和野生动物产生不利影响的微量元素的政策制定提供参考。
