Departamento de Ingenierías Química y Biomolecular, Universidad de Cantabria, Santander, Spain.
Departamento de Enfermería, Universidad de Cantabria, Santander, Spain.
Environ Geochem Health. 2022 Dec;44(12):4595-4618. doi: 10.1007/s10653-022-01218-8. Epub 2022 Feb 22.
The environmental exposure to trace metal(loid)s (As, Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb, and Zn) was assessed near a ferromanganese alloy plant using filters from personal particulate matter (PM) samplers (bioaccessible and non-bioaccessible fine and coarse fractions) and whole blood as short-term exposure markers, and scalp hair and fingernails as long-term biomarkers, collected from volunteers (n = 130) living in Santander Bay (northern Spain). Bioaccessible and non-bioaccessible metal(loid) concentrations in coarse and fine PM from personal samplers were determined by ICP-MS after extraction/digestion. Metal(loid) concentration in biomarkers was measured after alkaline dilution (whole blood) and acid digestion (fingernails and scalp hair) by ICP-MS as well. Results were discussed in terms of exposure, considering the distance to the main Mn source, and sex. In terms of exposure, significant differences were found for Mn in all the studied fractions of PM, As in whole blood, Mn and Cu in scalp hair and Mn and Pb in fingernails, with all concentrations being higher for those living closer to the Mn source, with the exception of Cu in scalp hair. Furthermore, the analysis of the correlation between Mn levels in the studied biomarkers and the wind-weighted distance to the main source of Mn allows us to conclude that scalp hair and mainly fingernails are appropriate biomarkers of long-term airborne Mn exposure. This was also confirmed by the significant positive correlations between scalp hair Mn and bioaccessible Mn in coarse and fine fractions, and between fingernails Mn and all PM fractions. This implies that people living closer to a ferromanganese alloy plant are exposed to higher levels of airborne metal(loid)s, mainly Mn, leading to higher levels of this metal in scalp hair and fingernails, which according to the literature, might affect some neurological outcomes. According to sex, significant differences were observed for Fe, Cu and Pb in whole blood, with higher concentrations of Fe and Pb in males, and higher levels of Cu in females; and for Mn, Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb in scalp hair, with higher concentrations in males for all metal(loid)s except Cu.
采用志愿者（n=130）采集的个人颗粒物（PM）采样器（可及和不可及的细颗粒和粗颗粒）中的滤膜和全血作为短期暴露标志物，以及头发生长和指甲作为长期生物标志物，评估了在一家铁锰合金厂附近痕量金属（砷、镉、铜、铁、锰、铅和锌）的环境暴露情况。采用 ICP-MS 测定了个人采样器中粗颗粒和细颗粒 PM 中的可及和不可及金属（loid）浓度，通过提取/消解。采用 ICP-MS 测定了全血的碱性稀释（全血）和指甲和头发生长的酸消解（指甲和头发生长）后的生物标志物中的金属（loid）浓度。根据暴露情况，考虑到与主要 Mn 源的距离和性别，对结果进行了讨论。在暴露方面，发现所有研究 PM 分数中的 Mn、全血中的 As、头发生长中的 Mn 和 Cu 以及指甲中的 Mn 和 Pb 均存在显著差异，距离 Mn 源越近，浓度越高，除了头发生长中的 Cu 之外。此外，对研究生物标志物中 Mn 水平与到主要 Mn 源的加权风距之间的相关性分析表明，头发生长和主要指甲是长期空气中 Mn 暴露的合适生物标志物。这也得到了头发生长 Mn 与粗颗粒和细颗粒中可及 Mn 之间以及指甲 Mn 与所有 PM 分数之间的显著正相关关系的证实。这意味着生活在铁锰合金厂附近的人更容易接触到更高水平的空气中的金属（loid），主要是 Mn，导致头发生长和指甲中 Mn 含量更高，根据文献，这可能会影响一些神经学结果。根据性别，全血中的 Fe、Cu 和 Pb 存在显著差异，男性的 Fe 和 Pb 浓度较高，女性的 Cu 水平较高；头发生长中的 Mn、Cu、Zn、Cd 和 Pb 也存在显著差异，除了 Cu 之外，所有金属（loid）的浓度都较高。
