Clausing P, Brunekreef B, van Wijnen J H
Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 1987;59(1):73-82. doi: 10.1007/BF00377681.
In recent years, many cases of soil pollution have been unearthed in the Netherlands. The ingestion of soil particles due to mouthing behaviour of young children is an important potential pathway of exposure and may constitute a health risk. For an assessment of these health risks, a reliable estimation of the daily inadvertent ingestion of soil particles is necessary. A method to estimate soil ingestion is the use of titanium (Ti), aluminium (Al) and acid insoluble residue (AIR) content of the soil as a tracer. By measuring these tracers in faeces of children and in soil, an estimate can be made of the amount of soil ingested. This method can be used if the following conditions are met: tracer intake by other routes (food) is low and not too variable; tracer absorption from soil in the gastro-intestinal (GI) tract is negligible; tracer concentrations in soil are high and not too variable. A small pilot study was conducted among 18 children visiting a nursery school and 6 hospitalized children without any possibility of soil contact. The results of the pilot study indicate that each tracer is present in faeces in highly variable amounts, but that a combination of these three tracers produces a useful picture of potential soil ingestion. Quantitatively, a difference between the two populations of 55 mg/d, expressed as soil ingestion, was found. Despite the small numbers involved, this difference was statistically significant as the population standard deviations were small. In a number of different soil types, tracer concentrations were found to be almost equal. Further studies are planned to test the validity of the assumptions, and to investigate larger child populations living in different circumstances.
近年来，荷兰发现了多起土壤污染案例。幼儿通过口部行为摄入土壤颗粒是一个重要的潜在接触途径，可能构成健康风险。为评估这些健康风险，有必要可靠地估计土壤颗粒的每日无意摄入量。一种估计土壤摄入量的方法是利用土壤中的钛（Ti）、铝（Al）和酸不溶残渣（AIR）含量作为示踪剂。通过测量儿童粪便和土壤中的这些示踪剂，可以估计摄入的土壤量。如果满足以下条件，该方法即可使用：通过其他途径（食物）摄入的示踪剂量较低且变化不大；示踪剂在胃肠道（GI）中从土壤的吸收可忽略不计；土壤中的示踪剂浓度较高且变化不大。对18名幼儿园儿童和6名没有任何接触土壤可能性的住院儿童进行了一项小型试点研究。试点研究结果表明，每种示踪剂在粪便中的含量变化很大，但这三种示踪剂的组合能提供潜在土壤摄入量的有用情况。从数量上看，发现这两组人群之间以土壤摄入量表示的差异为55毫克/天。尽管涉及的人数较少，但由于总体标准差较小，这种差异具有统计学意义。在一些不同的土壤类型中，发现示踪剂浓度几乎相等。计划进一步开展研究，以检验这些假设的有效性，并调查生活在不同环境中的更多儿童群体。
