Childhood exposure to metal(loid)s in industrial and urban areas along the Persian Gulf using toenail tissue as a biomarker

Lactational Exposure of Human Infants to Metal (loid)s: A Comparison of Industrial and Urban Inhabitants in North of the Persian Gulf

“…That is because of the similarity of culture followed by the similarity of lifestyle and food habits, comparable genetic and geographical location across the study population [5,6]. In other previous studies with focusing on the comparison of exposure levels to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) [6], and MLs in serum blood [5] and toenail [27] samples from the PGA and the UA, we achieved the same ndings.…”

“…Our previous study conducted in the study areas of the present study showed the similar results. Based on the results of the mentioned study, among investigated MLs, the mean concentration of Fe, Cr, Mn, Pb, and Ni in toenail samples of the school children (at ages of 7-12) from the PGA were statistically signi cantly greater than those from the UA [27]. Comparison of detected MLs in BM samples from the present study and observed MLs in BM samples from other previous studies and their recommended values by the WHO are presented in Table S3.…”

“…Kaki is an area without industrial activities and far away from industrial sources and highways and is located approximately 160 Km away from Asaluyeh city (28.3418 •N, 51, 5229 •E). The climate condition of Asaluyeh city is hot and humid while the climate condition of Kaki is hot and dry [27]. Based on the report from the Statistical Center of Iran, the local population of Asaluyeh and Kaki were 56,255 and 12,119, respectively [32] and nearly 17,703 are living in Asaluyeh for work in different industries.…”

“…In addition to petrochemical and re neries complexes, a variety of other industries are also activating in Asaluyeh area that release a large amount of pollutants such as MLs in the surrounding environment and consequent harmful effects on human health [16]. Previous studies have ever been measured MLs levels in the environmental (sediment, air, street dust, ballast water, land ll leachates, and drinking water) [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] and biological (blood, toenail, sh, bivalve, and zooplankton) [5,6,[26][27][28][29][30][31] samples which have been attributed to the industrial activities in this region. Considering differences in the physiological condition of body among infants and adults, infants are more at health risk because of exposure to the environmental pollutants such as MLs.…”

Short- and long-term exposure to trace metal(loid)s from the production of ferromanganese alloys by personal sampling and biomarkers

“…Other candidates have been considered for long-term exposure to metal(loid)s, such as hair and nails (Butler et al, 2019 ; Fernández-Olmo et al, 2021 ; Nakaona et al, 2020 ; Parhizkar et al, 2021 ), because of their slow growth: between 1 and 1.2 cm/month of hair (Van Neste & Rushton, 2016 ) and about 3.47 mm/month of fingernails (Yaemsiri et al, 2010 ). They are easy to sample, transport, handle and store (Haynes et al, 2015 ; Menezes-Filho et al, 2009 ; Sukumar & Subramanian, 2007 ), although it is not possible to discriminate between the specific exposure route to them, providing us with a final concentration resulting from inhalation, oral and dermal routes.…”