Urinary Mercury Levels and Predictors of Exposure among a Group of Italian Children

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Stefano Martellucci¹  Vincenzo Mattei¹  MariaLuisa Astolfi²  Silvia Canepari²  Carmela Protano³  Matteo Vitali³  Elisabetta Marconi³ 

[1] Biomedicine and Advanced Technologies Rieti Center, “Sabina Universitas”, 02100 Rieti, Italy;Department of Chemistry, “Sapienza” University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy;Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, “Sapienza” University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy;

关键词: pediatric age;    non-invasive matrix;    biomonitoring;    toxic element;    air pollution;    cold vapor atomic fluorescence spectrometry;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijerph17249225

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Urinary mercury (Hg) levels are suitable to assess long-term exposure to both elemental and inorganic Hg. In this study, the urinary Hg levels of 250 children (aged 6–11 years) from three areas with different anthropogenic impacts in the Rieti province, central Italy, were assessed. The Hg concentrations were in the range of 0.04–2.18 µg L⁻¹ with a geometric mean equal to 0.18 µg L⁻¹ [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.17–0.20 µg L⁻¹] or 0.21 µg g⁻¹ creatinine (95% CI, 0.19–0.23 µg g⁻¹ creatinine), and a reference value calculated as 95th percentile of 0.53 µg L⁻¹ (95% CI, 0.44–0.73 µg L⁻¹) or 0.55 µg g⁻¹ creatinine (95% CI, 0.50–0.83 µg g⁻¹ creatinine). In all cases, urinary Hg data were below the HBM-I values (7 µg L⁻¹ or 5 µg g⁻¹ creatinine) established for urine, while the 95th percentile was above the German Human Biomonitoring Commission’s RV95 (0.4 µg L⁻¹) set for children without amalgam fillings. A significant correlation (p < 0.05) was found between creatinine-corrected results and residence area, with higher urinary Hg levels in children living in the industrial area. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that creatinine was the main predictor of urinary Hg.

【 授权许可】

Unknown