Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute of Environmental Health, No. 7 Panjiayuan Nanli, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100021, China.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Jan 30;20(3):2451. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20032451.
This study aimed to investigate the boron level in drinking water and daily boron intake of island residents, and to have a health risk assessment of the boron exposure. One-year water boron surveillance was made through the 18 selected sampling sites (5 finished water and 13 tap water) covered by 5 water treatment plants with different water sources. We recruited 220 healthy volunteers (half men and half women) from 89 families covering all age groups living in Shengshan to provide basic information and living habits. One-third of the families attended the daily food boron intake evaluation through the double meal method for three days. In each family, only one family member provided the food samples. Urine samples were collected from all subjects to get the urine boron level. Furthermore, we used the EPA model and TDI for health risk assessments. The boron level in finished water and tap water with different sources were 0.68-1.46 mg/L and 0.62-1.26 mg/L for desalinated water, 0.30-0.39 mg/L and 0.20-0.50 mg/L for reservoir water, and 0.32-0.43 mg/L and 0.20-0.79 mg/L for mixture water. The average level of water boron intake, diet boron intake, and total boron intake was 0.113 ± 0.127 mg/d, 1.562 ± 0.927 mg/d, 1.674 ± 0.939mg/d, respectively, for the select sampling subjects. There were no significant differences in total boron intake for different age groups (1.685 ± 1.216 mg/d vs. 1.669 ± 0.793 mg/d for <45 yrs vs. ≥45 yrs, = 0.968) and gender groups (1.754 ± 1.009 mg/d vs. 1.633 ± 0.923 mg/d for male vs. female, = 0.735). Urine boron concentrations were similar in the two age groups (1.938 mg/g creatinine vs. 1.762 mg/g creatinine for <45 yrs vs. ≥45 yrs, = 0.635). There were significant differences in urinary boron between males and females (1.569 mg/g creatinine vs. 2.148 mg/g creatinine, = 0.018). The largest hazard quotient (HQ) of drinking water was 0.31, and the total boron exposures in this population were 0.03 mg/kg bw per day. The study showed that there was no possible non-carcinogenic risk of water boron exposure and lower health risk of total boron exposure to humans in this region, but its toxicity should not be ignored. The subsequent studies should strengthen the analysis of the subgroup populations.
本研究旨在调查海岛居民饮用水中的硼水平和日常硼摄入量，并对硼暴露的健康风险进行评估。通过对 5 家不同水源水处理厂覆盖的 18 个选定采样点（5 个出厂水和 13 个末梢水）进行为期一年的水硼监测，我们招募了 220 名来自盛山的 89 个家庭的健康志愿者（男女各半），以提供基本信息和生活习惯。三分之一的家庭通过三天的双餐法参与了日常食物硼摄入量评估。每个家庭中，只有一名家庭成员提供食物样本。从所有受试者中采集尿液样本以获得尿硼水平。此外，我们使用 EPA 模型和 TDI 进行健康风险评估。不同水源的出厂水和末梢水中的硼水平分别为脱盐水 0.68-1.46mg/L 和 0.62-1.26mg/L，水库水 0.30-0.39mg/L 和 0.20-0.50mg/L，混合水 0.32-0.43mg/L 和 0.20-0.79mg/L。选择采样对象的水硼摄入量、饮食硼摄入量和总硼摄入量的平均值分别为 0.113±0.127mg/d、1.562±0.927mg/d、1.674±0.939mg/d。不同年龄组（<45 岁组 1.685±1.216mg/d 与≥45 岁组 1.669±0.793mg/d， = 0.968）和性别组（男性 1.754±1.009mg/d 与女性 1.633±0.923mg/d， = 0.735）的总硼摄入量无显著差异。两组的尿硼浓度相似（<45 岁组 1.938mg/g 肌酐与≥45 岁组 1.762mg/g 肌酐， = 0.635）。男性和女性的尿硼浓度存在显著差异（1.569mg/g 肌酐与 2.148mg/g 肌酐， = 0.018）。饮用水硼的最大危害商数（HQ）为 0.31，该地区人群的总硼暴露量为 0.03mg/kg bw/天。研究表明，该地区人群饮用水硼暴露不存在非致癌风险，总硼暴露对人体的健康风险较低，但仍不容忽视。后续研究应加强亚群人群的分析。
