Health Risk Assessment of Exposure to 15 Essential and Toxic Elements in Spanish Women of Reproductive Age: A Case Study

Carmen Sáez, Alfredo Sánchez, Vicent Yusà, Pablo Dualde, Sandra F. Fernández, Antonio López, Francisca Corpas-Burgos, Miguel Ángel Aguirre and Clara Coscollà
Additional contact information
Carmen Sáez: Public Health Laboratory of Alicante, 6 Plaza de España, 03010 Alicante, Spain
Alfredo Sánchez: Public Health Laboratory of Alicante, 6 Plaza de España, 03010 Alicante, Spain
Vicent Yusà: Foundation for the Promotion of Health and Biomedical Research in the Valencian Region, FISABIO-Public Health, 21, Avenida Catalunya, 46020 Valencia, Spain
Pablo Dualde: Foundation for the Promotion of Health and Biomedical Research in the Valencian Region, FISABIO-Public Health, 21, Avenida Catalunya, 46020 Valencia, Spain
Sandra F. Fernández: Foundation for the Promotion of Health and Biomedical Research in the Valencian Region, FISABIO-Public Health, 21, Avenida Catalunya, 46020 Valencia, Spain
Antonio López: Foundation for the Promotion of Health and Biomedical Research in the Valencian Region, FISABIO-Public Health, 21, Avenida Catalunya, 46020 Valencia, Spain
Francisca Corpas-Burgos: Foundation for the Promotion of Health and Biomedical Research in the Valencian Region, FISABIO-Public Health, 21, Avenida Catalunya, 46020 Valencia, Spain
Miguel Ángel Aguirre: Department of Analytical Chemistry, Nutrition and Food Science, Institute of Materials, University of Alicante, 03080 Alicante, Spain
Clara Coscollà: Foundation for the Promotion of Health and Biomedical Research in the Valencian Region, FISABIO-Public Health, 21, Avenida Catalunya, 46020 Valencia, Spain

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 24, 1-22

Abstract: This case study investigates the exposure of 119 Spanish women of reproductive age to 5 essential (Co, Cu, Mn, V, Zn) and 10 toxic (Ba, Be, Cs, Ni, Pb, Pt, Sb, Th, Al, U) elements and assesses their risk. The essential elements (Co, Cu, Mn, V, and Zn) showed average concentrations (GM: geometric mean) of 0.8, 35, 0.5, 0.2, and 347 μg/L, respectively. Five of the toxic elements (Ba, Cs, Ni, Al, U) exhibited detection frequencies of 100%. The GM concentrations of the novel toxic elements were 12 μg/L (Al), 0.01 μg/L (Pt), 0.02 μg/L (U), 0.12 μg/L (Th), 0.009 μg/L (Be) and 4 μg/L (Cs). The urine analysis was combined with a survey to assess any variations between subgroups and potential predictors of exposure to elements in the female population. Significant differences were obtained between the rural and urban areas studied for the toxic element Cs, with higher levels found in mothers living in urban areas. In relation to diet, statistically significantly higher levels of essential (Cu) and toxic (Ba) elements were detected in women with a high consumption of fish, while mothers who consumed a large quantity of legumes presented higher levels of the toxic element Ni ( p = 0.0134). In a risk-assessment context, hazard quotients (HQs) greater than 1 were only observed for the essential elements Zn and Cu in P95. No deficiency was found regarding the only essential element for which a biomonitoring equivalent for nutritional deficit is available (Zn). For the less-studied toxic elements (Al, Pt, U, Th, Be, and Cs), HQs were lower than 1, and thus, the health risk due to exposure to these elements is expected to be low for the female population under study.

Keywords: biomonitoring; women; elements; urine; risk assessment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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