Trace elements in indoor dust—Children's health risk considering overall daily exposure

Abstract

Urbanization and industrialization keep contributing to increased pollution in the cities, including the contamination of indoor and outdoor environment with potentially toxic elements. The ubiquitous presence of trace elements may present an environmental and health concern, particularly in sensitive microenvironments like childcare and educational facilities. Although some of these elements are essential for human health and well-being at specific permissible levels (Se, Zn, Mn), others like As, Cd, Cr, and Pb can have negative impact on human health even at low exposure levels. [1][2][3] Dust particles can adsorb organic and inorganic contaminants, including trace metals 4,5 acting as a repository and also a transport medium. Indoor dust is a composite of both interior (i.e., construction, insulating, and decorative materials, home textiles, furniture, and appliances, cigarette smoking) and exterior (i.e., traffic emission, waste burning, and urbanization) sources of pollution. 6,7 Settled dust as a source of exposure to toxic elements has been extensively studied 5,8,9 since the modern way of life, for both adults and children, mostly implies spending the majority of our time indoors.Young children spend most of their time at home and in kindergartens, with a small, but potentially significant fraction of the daily time spent in the car. Faria et al. 10 recently confirmed that homes and schools are microenvironments that contribute most to the children's daily exposure and inhaled dose of particulate matter (PM), including trace elements. A comprehensive analysis of the exposure in the three microenvironments, namely home, work, and transport, obtained recently by Singh et al. 11 for the population of London,

Water-Soluble Ions and Heavy Metal Levels, Source Apportionment, and Health Risk of Indoor Dust in the Mogao Grottoes of Dunhuang, China

“…Indoor dust is a complex mixture of organic and inorganic particles, with fine particle size. Indoor dust is composed of various particle types, including atmospherically deposited particulates, soil and paint particles, automobile and industrial emissions, smelting and mining particulate, cooking and heating residues, building materials, and carpet and furniture fibers [1][2][3]. It also contains various pollutants and toxins that can accumulate [4][5][6].…”