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What adverse health effects will environmental heavy metal co-exposure bring us: based on a biological monitoring study of sanitation workers

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Abstract

To investigate the relationship between health effect profile and co-exposure to heavy metal, 254 sanitation workers from Guangzhou, China, were recruited. Ten urinary metals were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Parameters of physical examination, including blood lipid metabolism, renal function, blood pressure, and lung function, were tested for each participant. The hazard quotients (HQs) of eight heavy metals were evaluated. Cobalt, copper (Cu), molybdenum (Mo), nickel (Ni), and tin (Sn) demonstrated the top five associations with human health with the ∑19β as 2.220, 1.351, 1.234, 0.957, and 0.930, respectively. Most physical examination parameters of workers were under the normal ranges, except the levels of forced mid expiratory flow rate (MMEF75/25), the maximum expiratory flow rate at 25% vital capacity (MEF25) and apolipoprotein B in the first quartile, and the level of uric acid in the third quartile of sanitation works. Moreover, Cu was significantly associated with diastolic pressure, pulse, and high density lipid (p < 0.05). Each unit increase in Mo level was related to a 120% increase odd ratio (OR) of abnormal of systolic pressure, but was significantly and negatively correlated with high density lipoprotein and apolipoprotein A, suggesting that Mo exposure may be a risk factor of cardiovascular disease. Each unit increase in Ni and Sn levels was associated with an increased OR of abnormal rate of MMEF75/25 and MEF25 (p < 0.001), suggesting the increasing risks of respiratory diseases. Sanitation workers exposed to Ni and Pb alone had no carcinogenic risks (HQ < 1). However, 23.8%, 34.6%, and 87.3% of sanitation workers confronted non-carcinogenic risks when exposed to Cu, Mo alone (HQ > 1), or co-exposed to the four heavy metals (HI > 1). Our study preliminarily revealed the potential sensitive health indicators of heavy metal co-exposure, which will provide beneficial health protection suggestions for the occupational populations.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Internal Scientific Research Fund of Guangzhou Panyu Central Hospital (No. 2021Z001), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41731279) and the Science and Technology Plan Project of Panyu District, Guangzhou (No. 2020-Z04-48).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. South China Normal University-Panyu Central Hospital Joint Laboratory of Basic and Translational Medical Research, Guangzhou Panyu Central Hospital, Guangzhou, 511486, China

    Zhilin Li, Leizi Li, Yufeng Ye & Ruifang Fan

  2. Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Subtropical Biodiversity and Biomonitoring and Guangdong Provincial Engineering Technology Research Center for Drug and Food Biological Resources Processing and Comprehensive Utilization, School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China

    Zhilin Li, Hongxuan Kuang, Leizi Li, Maorong Wu, Zengquan Liao, Keqin Zeng & Ruifang Fan

  3. Medical Imaging Institute of Panyu, Guangzhou, 511486, China

    Yufeng Ye

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  1. Zhilin Li
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  2. Hongxuan Kuang
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  3. Leizi Li
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Contributions

Conceptualization: Ruifang Fan and Yufeng Ye; methodology: Zhilin Li, Maorong Wu, Zengquan Liao, and Keqin Zeng; formal analysis and investigation: Zhili Li and Hngxuan Kuang; writing — original draft preparation: Zhilin Li; writing — review and editing: Ruifang Fan; funding acquisition: Yufeng Ye and Ruifang Fan; resources: Yufeng Ye; supervision: Hongxuan Kuang.

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Correspondence to Yufeng Ye.

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This study was approved by the ethics committee of Guangzhou Panyu Central Hospital (Approval No. [2019] 88th).

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Informed consent was obtained from all the individual participants included in the study.

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Li, Z., Kuang, H., Li, L. et al. What adverse health effects will environmental heavy metal co-exposure bring us: based on a biological monitoring study of sanitation workers. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 35769–35780 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-24805-9

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