Heavy metals and metalloids in Bolivian mining centers:a preliminary assessment of human health risks

摘要

A preliminary risk assessment was performed for miner families of 11 Bolivian miningcenters. These centers were ranked based on the potential human health risks caused byexposure to heavy metals and metalloids. One of the mining centers - Colquechaca - wasselected for a more detailed assessment of the health risks. The preliminary assessment included ICP-MS analysis of heavy metals andmetalloids (e.g. Zn, As, Ag, Cd and Pb) in scalp hair of miner families and in a potentialexposure medium, namely dust. The metal concentration in the scalp hair of the minerswas compared with reference values (i.e. TDIs, MRLs and RfDs) to obtain an indicationof the potential health risk in order to rank the mining centers. Miner families of Colquechaca had relatively high scalp hair metal levels,particularly lead and arsenic. A questionnaire was administered among these families toidentify their main exposure routes and potential health effects. Miners and lactants wereidentified as high risk groups. The main exposure route for miners was occupational dustexposure. The main exposure route for lactants was not identified, but it is hypothesizedthat the high exposure levels could be explained by physiological differences and metalintake via mother milk and hand-mouth behavior. Women who had still births hadsignificantly higher lead levels (p = 0.034) and women with a spontaneous abortion hadstatistically higher cadmium levels (p = 0.044). However, the sample size was too smallto draw firm conclusions.