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Bharatiya M, Austin C, Arora M, Feeney RNM, Leonard ND, Low-Choy S, Paul B, Soficaru AD, Zhao JX, Smith TM. Tracking Childhood Lead Exposure in Early Industrial Romanians. CHEMOSPHERE 2024; 364:142947. [PMID: 39067821 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.142947] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2024] [Revised: 07/08/2024] [Accepted: 07/24/2024] [Indexed: 07/30/2024]
Abstract
Childhood lead exposure has been linked to severe adverse health outcomes throughout life. Measurements of lead in teeth have established that individuals living in contaminated environments show higher levels compared to individuals living further away, although less is known about when individuals are most susceptible to these exposures. We examined lead (Pb208) concentrations (ppm) in teeth over the first 2.5 years of life in 16 children born in the late 19th to early 20th century throughout Romania. This period of intense industrialization was characterized by increases in mining, coal burning, and oil refining-activities that contaminate air, water, and food with Pb. We hypothesized the distance from an operational mine or oil refinery, or being born in a city, would be positively associated with cumulative dentine Pb exposure (CDPE). We also predicted that Pb exposures would peak in the first six months of life when gastrointestinal (GI) absorption of Pb is likely highest. Laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) of sectioned tooth dentine followed by Bayesian statistical analyses revealed that living 30 km or more from a mine or oil refinery did not explain CDPE. However, being born in a city explained 42% of CDPE. All individuals showed maximum Pb exposures after six months of age, likely due to contaminated solid food and/or non-milk liquids. This research demonstrates how tooth formation can be coupled with comprehensive elemental mapping to analyse the context and timing of early-life neurotoxicant exposures, which may be extended to well-preserved teeth from clinical and historic populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maya Bharatiya
- Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia; Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia.
| | - Christine Austin
- Department of Environmental Medicine and Climate Science, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, USA
| | - Manish Arora
- Department of Environmental Medicine and Climate Science, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, USA
| | - Robin N M Feeney
- UCD School of Medicine, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Nicole D Leonard
- Radiogenic Isotope Facility, School of the Environment, The University of Queensland, Queensland, Australia
| | - Samantha Low-Choy
- Griffith Institute of Educational Research, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia; Centre of Planetary Health and Food Security, Griffith University, Nathan, Queensland, Australia
| | - Bence Paul
- School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Elemental Scientific Lasers, LLC., Montana, USA
| | - Andrei D Soficaru
- "Francisc I. Rainer" Institute of Anthropology, Romanian Academy, Bucharest, Romania
| | - Jian-Xin Zhao
- Radiogenic Isotope Facility, School of the Environment, The University of Queensland, Queensland, Australia
| | - Tanya M Smith
- Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia; Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia
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Yan W, Liu X, Zhang G. Identification of potential food sources affecting blood lead levels and their health hazards (CVD, respiratory diseases, cancer). THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 906:167505. [PMID: 37788771 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.167505] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2023] [Revised: 09/24/2023] [Accepted: 09/29/2023] [Indexed: 10/05/2023]
Abstract
Environmental lead exposure is a well-known and significant public health concern. In areas with low lead exposure, comprehensive and detailed research and validation are needed to eliminate the adverse effects of environmental lead exposure. This study aims to understand the possible food pathways of environmental lead exposure by exploring the contribution of food to blood lead and the mediating effect of blood lead in the occurrence of diseases. Similarly, as lead is a heavy metal pollutant with good research foundation, fine analysis of lead in this period can also be a reference for other unknown pollutants. In this cross-sectional study of 1162 peoples, the data are taken from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NANHES) 2015-2016, we grouped the population according to the median blood lead level (0.038 μmol/L) to screen the variables adjusted by the model. we grouped foods by code and used a generalized additive mixed model (GAMM) to study their relationship with blood lead levels, a correlation has been found between egg mixtures (p = 0.007) and legumes (p = 0.041) consumption and blood lead levels. We analyzed how metabolic status, exercise, and macronutrient intake modulate the impact of certain foods on blood lead levels to infer its possible process. To verify whether adverse effects are caused by lead, we explored the mediating effect of blood lead on the relationship between food intake and disease [cardiovascular diseases (CVD), respiratory diseases, cancer], however, no statistically significant mediating effect was found. Overall, environmental lead exposure through food still affects blood lead levels, but it has not led to adverse outcomes in blood, respiratory system, or cancers Under conditions where lead exposure levels were equivalent to those in the study (blood lead levels, mean = 0.052 μmol/L, standard deviation = 0.048 μmol/L, median = 0.038 μmol/L, min = 0.002 μmol/L, max = 0.904 μmol/L, skewness = 6.543, kurtosis = 89.391).
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenshan Yan
- School of Public Health, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, People's Republic of China
| | - Xinwei Liu
- School of Public Health, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, People's Republic of China
| | - Gexiang Zhang
- School of Public Health, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, People's Republic of China.
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Kapwata T, Wright CY, Reddy T, Street R, Kunene Z, Mathee A. Relations between personal exposure to elevated concentrations of arsenic in water and soil and blood arsenic levels amongst people living in rural areas in Limpopo, South Africa. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2023; 30:65204-65216. [PMID: 37079235 PMCID: PMC10116462 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-023-26813-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2022] [Accepted: 03/31/2023] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
Exposure to arsenic even at low levels can lead to adverse health outcomes, however, there is a paucity of research from South Africa in relation to human exposure to arsenic. We investigated long-term exposure of residents in Limpopo province, South Africa, in a cross-sectional study by analysing water, soil and blood arsenic concentrations from two arsenic-exposed (high and medium-low exposure) villages and one non-exposed (control) village. There were statistically significant differences in the distribution of arsenic in water, soil and blood amongst the three sites. The median drinking water arsenic concentration in the high-exposure village was 1.75 µg/L (range = 0.02 to 81.30 µg/L), 0.45 µg/L (range = 0.100 to 6.00 µg/L) in the medium- / low-exposure village and 0.15 µg/L (range = < limit of detection (LOD) to 29.30 µg/L) in the control site. The median soil arsenic concentration in the high-exposure village was 23.91 mg/kg (range = < LOD to 92.10 mg/kg) whilst arsenic concentrations were below the limit of detection in all soil samples collected from the medium-/low-exposure and control villages. In the high-exposure village, the median blood arsenic concentration was 1.6 µg/L (range = 0.7 to 4.2 µg/L); 0.90 µg/L (range = < LOD to 2.5 µg/L) in the medium-/low-exposure village and 0.6 µg/L (range = < LOD to 3.3 µg/L) in the control village. Significant percentages of drinking water, soil and blood samples from the exposed sites were above the internationally recommended guidelines (namely, 10 µg/L, 20 mg/kg and 1 µg/L, respectively). Majority of participants (86%) relied on borehole water for drinking and there was a significant positive correlation between arsenic in blood and borehole water (p-value = 0.031). There was also a statistically significant correlation between arsenic concentrations in participants' blood and soil samples collected from gardens (p-value = 0.051). Univariate quantile regression found that blood arsenic concentrations increased by 0.034 µg/L (95% CI = 0.02-0.05) for each one unit increase in water arsenic concentrations (p < 0.001). After adjusting for age, water source and homegrown vegetable consumption in multivariate quantile regression, participants from the high-exposure site had significantly higher blood concentrations than those in the control site (coefficient: 1.00; 95% CI = 0.25-1.74; p-value = 0.009) demonstrating that blood arsenic is a good biomarker of arsenic exposure. Our findings also provide new evidence for South Africa on the association between drinking water and arsenic exposure, emphasising the need for the provision of potable water for human consumption in areas with high environmental arsenic concentrations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thandi Kapwata
- Environment and Health Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Johannesburg, 2028, South Africa.
- Environmental Health Department, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, 2028, South Africa.
| | - Caradee Y Wright
- Environment and Health Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Pretoria, 0084, South Africa
- Department of Geography, Geoinformatics and Meteorology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, 0001, South Africa
| | - Tarylee Reddy
- Biostatistics Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Durban, 4001, South Africa
- School of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science, University of KwaZulu Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 3201, South Africa
| | - Renee Street
- Environmental Health Department, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, 2028, South Africa
- Environment and Health Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Durban, 4001, South Africa
| | - Zamantimande Kunene
- Environment and Health Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Johannesburg, 2028, South Africa
- Environmental Health Department, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, 2028, South Africa
| | - Angela Mathee
- Environment and Health Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Johannesburg, 2028, South Africa
- Environmental Health Department, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, 2028, South Africa
- School of Public Health, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2028, South Africa
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Kataba A, Yohannes YB, Nakata H, Yabe J, Toyomaki H, Muzandu K, Zyambo G, Ikenaka Y, Choongo K, Ishizuka M, Nakayama SMM. Association between Chronic Environmental Lead (Pb) Exposure and Cytokines in Males and Females of Reproductive Age from Kabwe, Zambia. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2023; 20:ijerph20085596. [PMID: 37107878 PMCID: PMC10138795 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20085596] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2023] [Revised: 03/14/2023] [Accepted: 04/18/2023] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
Lead (Pb) poisoning remains a great public health challenge globally known to induce a wide range of ailments in both children and adults. The current study investigated the association of chronic environmental Pb exposure and immunomodulatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin-8 (IL-8) in adult males and females living in Kabwe, Zambia. The standard human cytokine/chemokine Milliplex assay was used to quantify plasma cytokines from four groups categorized as low (<10 μg/dL) and high (>10 μg/dL) blood lead level (BLL) groups, namely, low BLL female (n = 47; BLL = 3.76 μg/dL), low BLL Male (n = 43; BLL = 4.13 μg/dL), high BLL female (n = 21; BLL = 23.5 μg/dL), and high BLL male (n = 18; BLL = 23.7 μg/dL), respectively. The low BLL group was associated with increased TNF-α levels, and the high BLL group was associated with reduced TNF-α levels in female subjects. No associations between BLL and the levels of IL-8 and TNF-α cytokines were observed in either females or males, respectively. A negative correlation between BLL and TNF-α was found in female subjects, suggesting that an increase in BLL accompanied by a reduction in TNF-α. The reduced levels of circulating TNF-α in female subjects suggest that chronic Pb exposure could predispose females to immune and inflammation-related disorders than their male counterparts. Further studies are recommended to ascertain the impact of chronic Pb exposure on immunomodulatory cytokines, especially in females.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Kataba
- Laboratory of Toxicology, Department of Environmental Veterinary Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University, Kita 18, Nishi 9, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-0818, Japan
- School of Veterinary Medicine, The University of Zambia, Lusaka P.O. Box 32379, Zambia
| | - Yared Beyene Yohannes
- Laboratory of Toxicology, Department of Environmental Veterinary Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University, Kita 18, Nishi 9, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-0818, Japan
- Department of Chemistry, College of Natural and Computational Science, University of Gondar, Gondar P.O. Box 196, Ethiopia
| | - Hokuto Nakata
- Laboratory of Toxicology, Department of Environmental Veterinary Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University, Kita 18, Nishi 9, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-0818, Japan
| | - John Yabe
- School of Veterinary Medicine, The University of Zambia, Lusaka P.O. Box 32379, Zambia
- School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Namibia, Windhoek P/B. 13301, Namibia
| | - Haruya Toyomaki
- Laboratory of Toxicology, Department of Environmental Veterinary Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University, Kita 18, Nishi 9, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-0818, Japan
| | - Kaampwe Muzandu
- School of Veterinary Medicine, The University of Zambia, Lusaka P.O. Box 32379, Zambia
| | - Golden Zyambo
- School of Veterinary Medicine, The University of Zambia, Lusaka P.O. Box 32379, Zambia
| | - Yoshinori Ikenaka
- Laboratory of Toxicology, Department of Environmental Veterinary Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University, Kita 18, Nishi 9, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-0818, Japan
- Water Research Group, School of Environmental Sciences and Development, North-West University, Potchefstroom 2531, South Africa
- Translational Research Unit, Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-0818, Japan
- One Health Research Center, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-0818, Japan
| | - Kennedy Choongo
- School of Veterinary Medicine, The University of Zambia, Lusaka P.O. Box 32379, Zambia
| | - Mayumi Ishizuka
- Laboratory of Toxicology, Department of Environmental Veterinary Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University, Kita 18, Nishi 9, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-0818, Japan
- Correspondence: (M.I.); or (S.M.M.N.); Tel.: +81-11-706-6949 (M.I.); +81-11-706-5105 (S.M.M.N.); Fax: +81-11-706-5105 (M.I. & S.M.M.N.)
| | - Shouta M. M. Nakayama
- Laboratory of Toxicology, Department of Environmental Veterinary Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University, Kita 18, Nishi 9, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-0818, Japan
- School of Veterinary Medicine, The University of Zambia, Lusaka P.O. Box 32379, Zambia
- Correspondence: (M.I.); or (S.M.M.N.); Tel.: +81-11-706-6949 (M.I.); +81-11-706-5105 (S.M.M.N.); Fax: +81-11-706-5105 (M.I. & S.M.M.N.)
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