Potential health risk in areas of high natural concentrations of thallium and importance of urine screening

Abstract

There is a lack of information in the literature regarding Tl exposure from naturally occurring Tl enrichment. This paper draws attention to the potential health risk posed by high concentrations of naturally occurring Tl in the environment. The inhabitants of a rural area in SW Guizhou Province, China, reside within a natural Tl accumulated environment resulting from Tl-rich sulfide mineralization, and they face ongoing severe Tl exposure. High Tl concentrations were detected in urine of the local residents. Urinary Tl concentrations are as high as 2668 μg/L, with most subjects surpassing the accepted world urinary Tl concentration at <1 μg/L for “non-exposed” humans. The urinary Tl concentrations show significant differences among three communities ( n = 21, p = 0.001), but no significant difference in either sex or age groups ( n = 21, p = 0.7806). However, there is a positive statistical relationship between the extent of Tl exposure from Tl concentrations in soil and crops in the immediate environment and the concentrations of Tl detected in urine. A majority of the volunteer subjects from the communities have urinary Tl concentrations above 4.5–6 μg/L, implying early adverse health effects, and some of them have over 500 μg/L urinary Tl, considered to be at/about the level of clinical intoxication. This study has been able to identify that the elevated urinary Tl concentrations are mainly attributable to Tl accumulation in locally grown vegetables, which acquire Tl from the soil. This study also shows that Tl in urine of the local population represents a steady-state condition with long-term exposure, and that urinary Tl concentrations can be taken as a bio-marker of total dose based upon total daily dietary intake. This study demonstrates that natural sources of elevated Tl pose a potential health risk to the population, and that monitoring the urinary Tl concentration is a reliable and accurate way of bio-marking Tl exposure.