Urinary levels of some metals among children in the red sludge area

Abstract

Background: Hungary’s largest ecological disaster took place on October 4, 2010 when the western dam of a red sludge reservoir had ruptured, and a mixture of 700 thousand m3 of red sludge and water inundated the lower sections of the nearby settlements, causing 9 deaths and 150 injuries. At the affected sites, measures were promptly taken to neutralize the corrosive mud and clean the area. As the sludge has receded and its pH decreased, an environmental health surveillance system was initiated to monitor possible health consequences and to prevent further potential health risks to the population. Objective: to assess the possible health risk of the local population due to the dust exposure originating from the dried red sludge, by measuring the urinary levels of the selected metals in the „Red sludge” and the Control area, comparing the measured values to „reference values” and assessing the tendencies of urinary levels of metals in the two areas. Methods: Monthly 10-10 randomly chosen children were examined from both the exposed (Kolontár and Devecser) and the control (Ajka) settlements. Cadmium, nickel, arsenic, cobalt, chromium, aluminium and vanadium concentrations of freshly collected urine samples of alto­gether 351 children (176 from the affected and 175 from the control area) were analysed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS). Both absolute and creatinine adjusted concentrations were evaluated. Results: There were no significant differences in the concentrations of various metals between the children’s urine samples from the exposed and the control areas. In the studied period of 18 months, there was no increasing time trend observed, either. The measured concentrations were similar to those published in the international litera­ture referring to non-exposed areas. Conclusion: No increase of health risk due to the dried red sludge was observed by measuring the urinary levels of 7 metals among children in the area affected by the red sludge