Use of scalp hair as indicator of human exposure to heavy metals in an electronic waste recycling areaShow others and affiliations
2009 (English)In: Environmental Pollution, ISSN 0269-7491, E-ISSN 1873-6424, Vol. 157, no 8-9, p. 2445-2451Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Scalp hair samples were collected at an electronic waste (e-waste) recycling area and analyzed for trace elements and heavy metals. Elevated levels were found for Cu and Pb with geometric means (GMs) at 39.8 and 49.5 microg/g, and the levels of all elements were found in the rank order Pb > Cu > Mn > Ba > Cr > Ni > Cd > As > V. Besides Cu and Pb, Cd (GM: 0.518 microg/g) was also found to be significantly higher compared to that in hair samples from control areas. Differences with age, gender, residence status and villages could be distinguished for most of the elements. The high levels of Cd, Cu and Pb were likely found to be originated from e-waste related activities, and specific sources were discussed. This study shows that human scalp hair could be a useful biomarker to assess the extent of heavy metal exposure to workers and residents in areas with intensive e-waste recycling activities.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2009. Vol. 157, no 8-9, p. 2445-2451
Keywords [en]
Hair, Biomarker, Electronic waste recycling, Human exposure, Multivariate analysis, Heavy metals, Trace elements
National Category
Environmental Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-193830DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2009.03.010ISI: 000267586200033PubMedID: 19346038Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-68649103717OAI: oai:DiVA.org:liu-193830DiVA, id: diva2:1757380
Note
Sponsors:
Funding AgencyGrant Number National Science Foundation of China Grant(s): 20897010 20621703
National Basic Research Program of China Grant(s): 2009CB421600
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