School of Energy and Environmental Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, 100083, China.
School of Energy and Environmental Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, 100083, China.
Chemosphere. 2022 Dec;308(Pt 1):136197. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.136197. Epub 2022 Sep 2.
Domestic dogs have been proved to be used as "sentinel organisms" to monitor human lead exposure. However, whether dogs' blood can be used to identify the levels and pollution source of children's lead exposure still needs evidence. To evaluate the potential use of domestic dogs' blood lead as an indicator of lead exposure levels and pollution source of children, accompanying with potential environmental media samples, lead concentrations and isotope ratios (expressed as Pb/Pb, Pb/Pb) in blood were investigated and compared between children and dogs, who came from a Pb-Zn smelter area, a coal fired area and a control area without industrial activity. The results showed that there were significant correlations in blood lead levels (BLLs) between children and dogs in the study areas (p < 0.01). The lead isotope ratios (LIRs) in blood of children and dogs were disparate among the three areas, however, the LIRs of dogs were quite correlated with those of children in each area (p < 0.01). With the comparison of LIRs between potential pollution sources (slag, ore, coal, paint) and blood samples, the identified lead sources based on dogs' blood were found to be coincident with those based on children's blood. Ore smelting and coal combustion were the main sources of lead exposure for the dogs and children in the smelting area, and coal combustion was the predominant source for the children and dogs living in the coal burning area and control area. The results showed that dogs' BLLs might be used to estimate children's BLLs, and blood LIRs measurements of dogs' could be used as an alternative for identifying the sources of children's lead exposure. This study further provided relevant evidence for dogs to be sentinels exposed to human lead exposure and an alternative method for source apportionment of children's lead exposure.
家犬已被证实可作为“哨兵生物”，用于监测人类的铅暴露情况。然而，犬血是否可用于识别儿童铅暴露的水平和污染源，仍需要证据。为评估利用家犬血铅作为儿童铅暴露水平和污染源的指示物的潜在用途，我们在一个 Pb-Zn 冶炼区、一个燃煤区和一个无工业活动的对照区，对犬血与可能的环境介质样本进行了调查和比较，以评估家犬血铅作为儿童铅暴露水平和污染源指示物的潜在用途。结果表明，研究区儿童与犬血铅水平（BLLs）之间存在显著相关性（p<0.01）。尽管儿童和犬血中的铅同位素比值（LIRs）在三个地区之间存在差异，但每个地区的犬血 LIR 与儿童血 LIR 高度相关（p<0.01）。通过比较潜在污染源（炉渣、矿石、煤、油漆）与血样之间的 LIRs，发现基于犬血识别的铅源与基于儿童血识别的铅源一致。矿石冶炼和煤炭燃烧是犬和儿童在冶炼区铅暴露的主要来源，而煤炭燃烧是儿童和犬在燃煤区和对照区的主要铅暴露源。结果表明，犬的 BLL 可用于估计儿童的 BLL，犬血 LIR 的测量可作为识别儿童铅暴露源的替代方法。本研究进一步为犬作为人类铅暴露的“哨兵”提供了相关证据，也为儿童铅暴露的来源解析提供了一种替代方法。
