Biological Monitoring and Health Assessment of 21 Metal(loid)s in Children and Adolescents in Liuzhou City, Southwest China

Abstract

The concentrations of 21 metal(loid)s were analyzed in 2,050 children and adolescents aged 6–18 years from Liuzhou City, Southwest China. The detection rates of elements were all above 99%. The potential contribution of demographic and dietary habits to urinary metal(loid) levels was analyzed. We found that age was an important predictor for most elements, and that children exhibited higher metal(loid) exposure levels than adolescents, expect for Sr (P < 0.05). Urinary metal(loid) levels were higher in girls for 13 elements. Multiple regression models also showed that dietary habits may affect the distributions of metal(loid)s. This raised health concerns that the hazard quotient (HQ) of cadmium was > 1 at the P95 value and that the risk of the mixed effect of Cd, Hg and Tl was not negligible. The results of this study provide basic data on the reference values of urinary metal(loid) levels and health risk assessments of children and adolescents in industrial areas.