Analysis of cause-effect relations of the levels of biological markers of exposure to heavy metals with their personalized loading dose in the areas of wastes’ influence induced by the operation of the metallurgical plant in the past

Abstract

The article analyses and demonstrates methodical approaches to the practical implementation of the one of key stages in the formation of the evidential base of hazard to health caused by the negative impact of environmental factors. The stage comprises the establishment of the causal dependence (proven relation) of the chemicals’ content in biological media of exposed population on the personalized loading dose. The experiment included the local population (224 cases) living in the area of the exposure of the Dzhidinsky tungsten-molybdenum combine waste (Republic of Buryatia). The cartographic association of the residential areas of the population has been made as well as the approximation of the field study data of environmental factors due to 7 heavy metals has been performed. The total personalized loading dose caused by exposure to lead, cadmium, nickel, chromium, zinc, copper, manganese (the wastes of the metallurgical plant) was calculated. It is evident that the poor quality of the environment leads to the contamination of biological media (blood) by chemicals. More than 90 significant biologically-based mathematical models of the system “exposure - exposure marker” have been received. On the example of cadmium there was established the total dose of 0.0003 mg /(kg*d) for the child population, the excess of which significantly increases chances of both exceeding the concentration of a substance in blood over the control level and leading to the formation of a stable causal relationship with exposure markers of the multimedia load.