The Science of the total environment
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Sci. Total Environ. · Jun 2015
Nephrotoxic contaminants in drinking water and urine, and chronic kidney disease in rural Sri Lanka.
Chronic kidney disease of unknown ("u") cause (CKDu) is a growing public health concern in Sri Lanka. Prior research has hypothesized a link with drinking water quality, but rigorous studies are lacking. This study assesses the relationship between nephrotoxic elements (namely arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), and uranium (U)) in drinking water, and urine samples collected from individuals with and/or without CKDu in endemic areas, and from individuals without CKDu in nonendemic areas. ⋯ Urinary concentrations of individuals were also found to be within the range of reference values measured in urine of healthy unexposed individuals from international biomonitoring studies, though these reference levels may not be safe for the Sri Lankan population. The results suggest that CKDu cannot be clearly linked with the presence of these contaminants in drinking water. There remains a need to investigate potential interactions of low doses of these elements (particularly Cd and As) with other risk factors that appear linked to CKDu, prior to developing public health strategies to address this illness.
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Sci. Total Environ. · Jun 2015
The bioaccessibility of soil-based mercury as determined by physiological based extraction tests and human biomonitoring in children.
Environmental contaminants associated with soil particles are generally less bioavailable than contaminants associated with other exposure media where chemicals are often found in more soluble forms. In vitro methods, such as Physiological Based Extraction Tests (PBET), can provide estimates of bioaccessibility for soil-based contaminants. The results of these tests can be used to predict exposure to contaminants from soil ingestion pathways within human health risk assessment (HHRA). ⋯ Approximately 50% of urine samples had concentrations of urinary inorganic mercury below the limit of detection (0.1 μg/L), with an average creatinine adjusted concentration of 0.11 μg/g. Despite high variability in mercury soil concentrations within sub-communities, soil concentrations did not appear to influence urinary mercury concentrations. The results of the current investigation indicate that mercury bioaccessibility in residential soils in the Flin Flon area was likely limited and that HHRA estimates would have been better approximated through inclusion of the in vitro study results.