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Urinary arsenic levels influenced by abandoned mine tailings in the Southernmost Baja California Peninsula, Mexico

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Abstract

Gold has been mined at San Antonio-El Triunfo, (Baja California Sur, Mexico) since the 18th century. This area has approximately 5,700 inhabitants living in the San Juan de Los Planes and El Carrizal hydrographic basins, close to more than 100 abandoned mining sites containing tailings contaminated with potentially toxic elements such as arsenic. To evaluate the arsenic exposure of humans living in the surrounding areas, urinary arsenic species, such as inorganic arsenic (iAs) and the metabolites mono-methylated (MMA) and di-methylated arsenic acids (DMA), were evaluated in 275 residents (18–84 years of age). Arsenic species in urine were analyzed by hydride generation-cryotrapping-atomic absorption spectrometry, which excludes the non-toxic forms of arsenic such as those found in seafood. Urinary samples contained a total arsenic concentration (sum of arsenical species) which ranged from 1.3 to 398.7 ng mL−1, indicating 33 % of the inhabitants exceeded the biological exposition index (BEI = 35 ng mL−1), the permissible limit for occupational exposure. The mean relative urinary arsenic species were 9, 11 and 80 % for iAs, MMA and DMA, respectively, in the Los Planes basin, and 17, 10 and 73 %, respectively, in the El Carrizal basin. These data indicated that environmental intervention is required to address potential health issues in this area.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología—project No. 98710 (SIP 20101323 and SIP20131030). We gratefully thank the Health Chairman of La Paz County and the Health Center Directors of each town who organized talks to ask people to help in the study, and a special thanks to the participants that collaborated in this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Secretaría de Salud, Hospital Juan María de Salvatierra, Blvd. Paseo de los Deportistas 5115, 23085, La Paz, BCS, Mexico

    Carlos G. Colín-Torres

  2. Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas del Instituto Politécnico Nacional (CICIMAR-IPN), Av. Instituto Politécnico Nacional s/n, 23096, La Paz, BCS, Mexico

    Janette M. Murillo- Jiménez, Oscar F. Becerra-Rueda & Ana J. Marmolejo-Rodríguez

  3. Departamento de Toxicología, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional (CINVESTAV-IPN), Av. Instituto Politécnico Nacional 2508, San Pedro Zacatenco, 07360, Distrito Federal, México

    Luz M. Del Razo & Luz C. Sánchez-Peña

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  1. Carlos G. Colín-Torres
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  2. Janette M. Murillo- Jiménez
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  3. Luz M. Del Razo
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Correspondence to Janette M. Murillo- Jiménez.

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Colín-Torres, C.G., Murillo- Jiménez, J.M., Del Razo, L.M. et al. Urinary arsenic levels influenced by abandoned mine tailings in the Southernmost Baja California Peninsula, Mexico. Environ Geochem Health 36, 845–854 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-014-9603-x

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