Abstract
Background/Aim: Maliaño, Cantabria (Spain) is a 10,000 inhabitants community with elevated air-Mn from ferroalloy industrial emissions (annualarithmetic mean=781 ng/m3; reference guideline from WHO <=150 ng/m3). The capital of the region (Santander, 172,000 inhabitants) is 7 km from the industrial emission source (IES). Our objective was to determine the blood levels of Mn, As and Pb in adult healthy volunteers, and to explore the associations between residence distance from the IES, blood levels, and their cognitive and motor function. Methods: Ongoing cross-sectional study analyzing the first 29 volunteers: 19 women and 10 males, mean age 47.2 years. Cognitive and motor function was assessed by 5 and 3 tests respectively. Cognitive crude scores were standardized according to NEURONORMA norms. Distance from the IES was categorized into "<=1.5 km" versus ">1.5 to <10 km from the IES". Spearman's rho coefficient (rs) was used for correlations. Results: Means for Mn, As and Pb blood levels (µg/L) were 8.34; 8.22 and 11.65 respectively. As (rs=-0.590, p=0.001) and Pb (rs=-0.465, p=0.011) were correlated with lower distance from the IEM. Regarding cognitive function, statistically-significant mean differences were obtained for "WAIS Digit Span Backward" (1.44 points lower when living <=1.5 km, p=0.017) and "Verbal Fluency Test Initial Letter P" (4.21 points lower, p=0.042). WAIS Digit Span forward (NEURONORMA) was correlated negatively with Mn levels (rs=-0.410, p=0.027). Regarding motor function, Grooved Pegboard was inversely correlated with distance (the closer the residence to the IES, the longer the time to complete the test: rs=-0.38, p=0.043), mean difference=10.32 more seconds in highly exposed. For none of the rest of analyses, significant results were obtained against the hypothesis of worse cognitive or motor function as a function of distance from the IES, or blood levels. Conclusions. Our results suggest poorer cognitive and motor function, especially in terms of proximity to IES.
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