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

Maria Luisa Astolfi, Matteo Vitali, Elisabetta Marconi, Stefano Martellucci, Vincenzo Mattei, Silvia Canepari and Carmela Protano
Additional contact information
Maria Luisa Astolfi: Department of Chemistry, “Sapienza” University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
Matteo Vitali: Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, “Sapienza” University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
Elisabetta Marconi: Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, “Sapienza” University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
Stefano Martellucci: Biomedicine and Advanced Technologies Rieti Center, “Sabina Universitas”, 02100 Rieti, Italy
Vincenzo Mattei: Biomedicine and Advanced Technologies Rieti Center, “Sabina Universitas”, 02100 Rieti, Italy
Silvia Canepari: Department of Chemistry, “Sapienza” University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
Carmela Protano: Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, “Sapienza” University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 24, 1-13

Abstract: 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.

Keywords: pediatric age; non-invasive matrix; biomonitoring; toxic element; air pollution; cold vapor atomic fluorescence spectrometry (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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