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Heavy metals can be emitted into environment by both natural and anthropogenic sources, mainly mining and industrial activity. Human exposure occurs through all environmental media. Infants are more susceptible to the adverse effects of exposure. Increasing attention is now being paid to the mental development of children exposed to heavy metals. The purpose of this book is to evaluate the existing knowledge on intellectual impairment in children exposed to heavy metals in their living environment and to identify the research needs in order to obtain a clearer picture of the situation in countries and regions at risk, in which the economy is closely related to metallurgy and heavy metals emission, and to recommend a strategy for human protection. In greater detail the main objectives could be formulated as follows: to review the principal sources of single, and complex mixtures of, heavy metal pollutants in the environment; to identify suitable methodology for chemical analyses in the environment and in humans; to evaluate the existing methods for measuring mental impairment, including their reliability and validity; to recommend a standard testing protocol to be used in future research; to assess the future role of environmental heavy metal pollution in countries and regions at risk and its effects on children’s neurological development; to recommend a prevention strategy for protecting children’s health and development.
Trace metallic elements (TMEs) are pollutants of great concern even in trace amounts because of their toxicity and cumulative property. Some of them can be carcinogenic. The Sfax metropolis, located in the southern region of Tunisia, has been affected by releases of TMEs for decades. Several studies confirmed that this pollution is predominantly originated from anthropogenic sources, mainly from industrial activities. It represents a threat to the health of residents, particularly for those also exposed during occupational activities in industrial processes. The present study aims to assess health risks associated with occupational exposure in industries handling TMEs in their production processes, following the human health risk assessment approach. To this end, five companies using raw material containing TMEs to produce a variety of metallic products accepted to participate to the study. The metals that were investigated are Al, Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn and Pb. Mathematical models for estimating occupational exposure to chemicals were used to predict indoor air TME exposure levels in 15 different job tasks. Air monitoring was conducted in order to compare the predicted workplace air concentrations versus the direct measured ones, using both workplace-fixed monitors and personal samplers. And finally, urine samples were collected from 61 workers to assess whether TMEs excretion correlate with job exposure levels. Globally, the predicted air estimates relate well with measured concentrations over the whole set of job tasks. Better predictions were found for certain activities, in particular for steel cutting and welding processes. The values that correspond to the 90th percentile of the exposure distribution were then used in the interaction-based hazard index HIint to assess health risks associated with the mixtures of TMEs. Total cancer risk was also investigated. Results showed high exposures for metals that may elicit respiratory conditions, with a HIint reaching 93.6, the highest levels being for the shielded metal arc welding and metal shearing and slitting tasks. The risk is enhanced by a synergetic effect between Cr, Ni and Cu. High risks of lung and kidney cancers were demonstrated (the predicted life-long total cancer risk for exposed workers is 3.7×10-4). This work shows that mathematical models can be accurate in predicting TME airborne exposure levels for several processes in the metallurgic industry, a result that is of interest to help the different stakeholders to monitor efficiently exposure surveillance and abatement. Progress in industrial hygiene is needed in this industrial sector to reduce the high level of health risks currently experienced by the metalworking workers.
Understanding the complex impact of air pollution is crucial to assessing exposure risk and defining public health policies in China. However, the evidence and hence knowledge of how urban activity responds to air pollution are limited. In this paper, we propose to use geotagged check-in records on Weibo, a Tweeter-like platform, to systematically investigate the effect of air pollution on urban activity.Based on panel models, we found clear evidence that such effect exists and varies between pollutants, visitors and residents, and different activity types. Typically, SO2 has the largest impact, followed by PM2.5, NO2, and PM10; local citizens' activities are more susceptible than visitors; leisure-related activity has a sensitivity at least twofold higher than work-related activities. Additionally, we tested hypotheses about the heterogeneous effect. We confirmed the role of Income and air quality, showing that people who live in richer and more polluted cities are more likely to experience the effects of air pollution. Specifically, people who live in a more polluted city with 100 unit increments in AvgAQI show on average the same sensitivity as those who live in a less polluted city and earn about 20.3 thousand yuan more in average Income.This reveals new insights about environmental injustice in China. By presenting a portrait of the spatial heterogeneity, we argued that environmental injustice in terms of air pollution is not just about the difference in exposure risk measured based on population distribution, rather the measurement should also consider the disparity derived from urban activity. Secondly, new injustice may arise in underdeveloped areas where manufacture industry is transferred to but people barely take avoidance behavior. Finally, the map also reveals the general neglect of the detrimental effect of light air pollution, which we speculate is partly due to China's comparatively low standard in governmental regulations.We believe our finding contributes significantly to exposure risk assessment and environmental justice debates. Hence it highlights the necessity and urgency of public healthy polices that spread the health consequence of air pollution, especially in the underdeveloped region.
This document presents key messages and the state-of-the-art of soil pollution, its implications on food safety and human health. It aims to set the basis for further discussion during the forthcoming Global Symposium on Soil Pollution (GSOP18), to be held at FAO HQ from May 2nd to 4th 2018. The publication has been reviewed by the Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soil (ITPS) and contributing authors. It addresses scientific evidences on soil pollution and highlights the need to assess the extent of soil pollution globally in order to achieve food safety and sustainable development. This is linked to FAO’s strategic objectives, especially SO1, SO2, SO4 and SO5 because of the crucial role of soils to ensure effective nutrient cycling to produce nutritious and safe food, reduce atmospheric CO2 and N2O concentrations and thus mitigate climate change, develop sustainable soil management practices that enhance agricultural resilience to extreme climate events by reducing soil degradation processes. This document will be a reference material for those interested in learning more about sources and effects of soil pollution.