Metal(loid) bioaccessibility and inhalation risk assessment: A comparison between an urban and an industrial area

Abstract

The content of metal(loid)s in particulate matter (PM) is of special concern due to their contribution to overall (PM) toxicity. In this study, the bioaccessibility and human health risk of potentially toxic metal(loid)s associated with PM were investigated in two areas of the Cantabrian region (northern Spain) with different levels of exposure: an industrial area mainly influenced by a ferromanganese alloy plant; and an urban area consisting mainly of residential and commercial activities, but also affected, albeit to a lesser extent by the ferroalloy plant. Total content and bioaccessible fractions in simulated lung fluids (SLFs) of Fe, Mn, Zn, Ni, Cu, Sb, Mo, Cd and Pb were determined by ICP-MS. Gamble's solution and artificial lysosomal fluid (ALF) were used to mimic different conditions inside the human respiratory system. A health risk assessment was performed based on the United States Environmental Protection Agency's (USEPA) methodology. Most metal(loid)s showed moderate and high bioaccessibility in Gamble's solution and ALF, respectively. Despite the high variability between the samples, metal(loid) bioaccessibility was found to be higher on average at the industrial site, suggesting a greater hazard to human health in the proximity of the main metal(loid) sources. Based on the results of the risk assessment, the non-carcinogenic risk associated with Mn exposure was above the safe limit (HQ> 1) under all the studied scenarios at the industrial site and under some specific scenarios at the urban location. The estimated carcinogenic inhalation risk for Cd exposure at the industrial site was found to be within the range between 1.0 × 10 to 1.0 × 10 (uncertainty range) under some scenarios. The results obtained in this study indicate that Mn and Cd inhalation exposure occurring in the vicinities of the studied areas may pose a human health risk.

Metal Ion Release from Fine Particulate Matter Sampled in the Po Valley to an Aqueous Solution Mimicking Fog Water: Kinetics and Solubility

“…If PM is in contact with environmental or physiological solutions, the substances contained in the particles may be released, thus becoming bio-accessible and potentially toxic to living organisms and human tissues. For this reason, a very large number of papers have been or are being published in which the release of selected elements from PM to simulated physiological fluids was investigated (Benetello et al, 2018;Catalani et al, 2018;Dehghani et al, 2018;Gao et al, 2018;Hernández-Pellón et al, 2018;Huang et al, 2018;Kastury et al, 2018a, b;Nie et al, 2018;Pelfrêne and Douay, 2018;Wiseman et al, 2018;Berlinger et al, 2019;Du et al, 2019;Hernández-Pellón et al, 2019;Luo et al, 2019;Tang et al, 2019;Xing et al, 2019). For a list of older references see the review by Mukhtar and Limbeck (2013).…”

“…In these literature studies, the elemental solubility at equilibrium has been obtained. Solubilities depended on the element, on the season, on which species were loaded on the particle, on the distance of the sampling site from the element source, on the PM size, on the solution pH, and on pre-existing components in aqueous solution (Benetello et al, 2018;Dehghani et al, 2018;Gao et al, 2018, Hernández-Pellón et al, 2018Kastury et al, 2018a, b;Pelfrêne and Douay, 2018;Hernández-Pellón et al, 2019;Xie et al, 2019;Xing et al, 2019).…”

Contamination identification, source apportionment and health risk assessment of trace elements at different fractions of atmospheric particles at iron and steelmaking areas in China

“…For example, the trace elements As and Mn in PM 2.1-9.0 fractions at KM site were 12 and 27 times higher than the corresponding concentrations of the background UN sample. As a result, the elevated As and Mn contents at PM 2.1-9.0 of KM were found to exceed the safety limits, presenting non-carcinogenic risks via inhalation exposure ( Fig 7A) [49].…”

Health Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals Accumulated on PM2.5 Fractioned Road Dust from Two Cities of Pakistan

“…The risk to human health posed by toxic metals can be quantitatively evaluated by recognizing the possible exposure outcomes [ 28 ]. Among the primary pathways of heavy metal exposure to human beings inhalation route has been given a prominent place [ 52 ]. In this study, health risks of PM 2.5 fractioned road dust samples were assessed for children and adults by using two steps model i.e., exposure assessment and risk characterisation developed by (US EPA 1989; US EPA 2011) [ 16 ].…”