Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
Faculty of Science, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria.
Bull Environ Contam Toxicol. 2020 Jan;104(1):90-95. doi: 10.1007/s00128-019-02750-7. Epub 2019 Nov 14.
We conducted exposure assessment using toenails from 20 fishermen living in Bodo City, a community of the Niger delta region in Nigeria. This community has been affected by over 4000 oil spills and environmental disasters. Fishing is the primary source of food and income for individuals in this community. Previous research in Bodo City found elevated metal levels in fish. Toenails were used as a biomarker to investigate the feasibility for use in risk assessment studies in developing countries. The toenails collected had significantly higher manganese levels (median 5.8 µg/g) and lead levels (median 0.98 µg/g) than those reported in more developed countries, comparable levels to those from other low-middle incomes countries. These exposure levels are likely a direct result of exposures from the environmental disasters the community has experienced and would be related to increased risks for many diseases previously associated with heavy metal exposures.
我们对居住在尼日利亚尼日尔三角洲博多市的 20 名渔民的脚趾甲进行了暴露评估。该社区受到了 4000 多次石油泄漏和环境灾难的影响。渔业是该社区个人的主要食物和收入来源。博多市之前的研究发现鱼类中的金属含量升高。脚趾甲被用作生物标志物，以研究在发展中国家进行风险评估研究的可行性。采集的脚趾甲中锰含量（中位数 5.8µg/g）和铅含量（中位数 0.98µg/g）明显高于发达国家的报告值，与其他中低收入国家的水平相当。这些暴露水平很可能是该社区经历的环境灾难导致的直接暴露结果，并且与许多以前与重金属暴露相关的疾病的风险增加有关。
