Abstract
Among the results of community health impact assessments completed in 2014, residents of the Indae abandoned metal mine area showed high average urinary concentrations of harmful arsenic (As), at 148.9 µg/L. The concentration of harmful As was derived as the sum of As(V), As(III), MMA, and DMA concentrations known to be toxic. In this area, mining hazard prevention work was not carried out and the pollution source was neglected, and the health effect of the residents due to arsenic exposure was concerned. We re-assessed As exposure levels and tried to identify exposure factors for residents of this area. Analysis of the soil, sediment, and river water to assess the association between the soil of the Indae abandoned metal mine area and the soil in residential areas confirmed a correlation between Pb and As concentrations in the soil. Since Pb and As behave similarly, the use of the stable Pb isotope ratio for assessment of the pollution source tracking was validated. In the 3-isotope plot (207/206Pb vs. 208/206Pb) of soil samples in this area, a stable Pb isotope ratio was located on the same trend line, which confirmed that the soil in the residential area was within the area of influence of the Indae abandoned metal mine. Therefore, we judged that the pollution source of As was the Indae abandoned metal mine. The results by As species were As (III) 1.45 μg/L, As (V) 0.74 μg/L, monomethylarsonic acid (MMA) 2.43 μg/L, dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) 27.63 μg/L, and arsenobetaine 88.62 μg/L. The urinary harmful As was 31.92 μg/L, much lower than the 148.9 μg/L reported in a 2014 survey, due to the implementation of a multi-regional water supply in November 2014 that restricted As exposure through drinking river water. However, concerns remain over chronic exposure to As because As in river water used for farming and in agricultural soil still exceeds environmental standards; thus, ongoing work to address hazards from former mining areas and continued environmental monitoring is necessary.
Highlights
Arsenic (As), a naturally occurring element distributed widely in the Earth’s crust, is a metalloid with similar properties to those of metals
The Indae abandoned metal mine area consists of a single water system, with the mine located in a high-altitude area and residential properties located in a low-altitude area within a 2-km radius of the mines
Unit: lg/L 1)GM: geometric mean; 95% CI: 95% confidence interval 2)Harmful As: As(III) ? As(V) ? monomethylarsonic acid (MMA) ? dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) 3)One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) a,b,c,d,e,fTukey’s Post Hoc Multiple Comparisons, the same letter indicates statistical significance
Summary
Arsenic (As), a naturally occurring element distributed widely in the Earth’s crust, is a metalloid with similar properties to those of metals. As is a carcinogen that can cause lung and skin cancer, and is a substance with strong toxicity that can cause cardiovascular, skin, respiratory, and neurological diseases (ATSDR 2007; WHO 2001).The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) of the World Health Organization (WHO) classified As and As compounds as Group 1 carcinogens (carcinogenic to humans) in 1987, As in drinking water as a Group 1 carcinogen in 2004, and monomethylarsonic acid (MMA) and dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) as Group 2B carcinogens (possibly carcinogenic to humans) in 2012 (WHO IARC 2004, 2012; Hsu et al 2011). Inorganic As includes arsenous acid (As(III)) and arsenic acid (As(V)), while organic As includes MMA, DMA, arsenobetaine (AsB), and arsenocholine (AsC). Inorganic As has a stronger toxicity than that of organic As AsB and AsC are generally considered to be non-toxic. The toxicity and carcinogenicity of As depend on the total concentration and on the different As species (Pizarro et al 2003) (Liu et al 2013)
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