Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Original Article
  • Published:

Associations between metals in residential environmental media and exposure biomarkers over time in infants living near a mining-impacted site

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 26, pages 510–519 (2016)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Infant exposures to metals are a concern for mining-impacted communities, although limited information is available to assess residential exposures over the first year of life. We measured lead (Pb), manganese, arsenic, and cadmium in indoor air, house dust, yard soil, and tap water from 53 infants’ homes near the Tar Creek Superfund Site (Oklahoma, USA) at two time points representing developmental stages before and during initial ambulation (age 0–6 and 6–12 months). We measured infant metal biomarkers in: umbilical cord blood (n=53); 12- (n=43) and 24- (n=22) month blood; and hair at age 12 months (n=39). We evaluated cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between infant residential and biomarker concentrations. A doubling of mean dust Pb concentration was consistently associated with 36–49% higher 12-month blood Pb adjusting for cord blood Pb (P⩽0.05). Adjusted dust concentration explained 29–35% of blood Pb variance, and consistent associations with other media were not observed. Although concentrations in dust and blood were generally low, strong and consistent associations between dust and body burden suggest that house dust in mining-impacted communities may impact children’s health. These relationships were observed at a young age, typically before blood Pb levels peak and when children’s development may be particularly vulnerable to toxic insult.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1
Figure 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Csavina J, Field J, Taylor MP, Gao S, Landázuri A, Betterton EA et al. A review on the importance of metals and metalloids in atmospheric dust and aerosol from mining operations. Sci Total Environ 2012; 433: 58–73.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Grandjean P, Landrigan PJ . Neurobehavioural effects of developmental toxicity. Lancet Neurol 2014; 13: 330–338.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Rodríguez-Barranco M, Lacasaña M, Aguilar-Garduño C, Alguacil J, Gil F, González-Alzaga B et al. Association of arsenic, cadmium and manganese exposure with neurodevelopment and behavioural disorders in children: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sci Total Environ 2013; 454–455: 562–577.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Claus Henn B, Coull BA, Wright RO . Chemical mixtures and children’s health. Curr Opin Pediatr 2014; 26: 223–229.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Cohen Hubal EA, Sheldon LS, Burke JM, McCurdy TR, Berry MR, Rigas ML et al. Children's exposure assessment: a review of factors influencing children's exposure, and the data available to characterize and assess that exposure. Environ Health Perspect 2000; 108: 475–486.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. EPA (US Environmental Protection Agency). Child-Specific Exposure Factors Handbook (Final Report), 2008. Available at: http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/cfm/recordisplay.cfm?deid=199243#Download (last accessed 12 February 2014).

  7. Malcoe LH, Lynch RA, Kegler MC, Skaggs VJ . Lead sources, behaviors, and socioeconomic factors in relation to blood lead of Native American and white children: a community-based assessment of a former mining area. Environ Health Perspect 2002; 110: 221–231.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Murgueytio AM, Evans RG, Sterling DA, Clardy SA, Shadel BN, Clements BW . Relationship between lead mining and blood lead levels in children. Arch Environ Health 1998; 53: 414–423.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Cook M, Chappell WR, Hoffman RE, Mangione EJ . Assessment of blood lead levels in children living in a historic mining and smelting community. Am J Epidemiol 1993; 137: 447–455.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Gulson BL, Davis JJ, Mizon KJ, Korsch MJ, Law AJ, Howarth D . Lead bioavailability in the environment of children: blood lead levels in children can be elevated in a mining community. Arch Environ Health 1994; 49: 326–331.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Bjerre B, Berglund M, Harsbo K, Hellman B . Blood lead concentrations of Swedish preschool children in a community with high lead levels from mine waste in soil and dust. Scand J Work Environ Health 1993; 19: 154–161.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Lin S, Wang X, Yu IT, Tang W, Miao J, Li J et al. Environmental lead pollution and elevated blood lead levels among children in a rural area of China. Am J Public Health 2011; 101: 834–841.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Ruiz-Castell M, Paco P, Barbieri FL, Duprey JL, Forns J, Carsin AE et al. Child neurodevelopment in a Bolivian mining city. Environ Res 2012; 112: 147–154.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Berglund M, Lind B, Sörensen S, Vahter M . Impact of soil and dust lead on children's blood lead in contaminated areas of Sweden. Arch Environ Health 2000; 55: 93–97.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Molina RM, Schaider LA, Donaghey TC, Shine JP, Brain JD . Mineralogy affects geoavailability, bioaccessibility and bioavailability of zinc. Environ Pollut 2013; 182: 217–224.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Schaider LA, Senn DB, Brabander DJ, McCarthy KD, Shine JP . Characterization of zinc, lead, and cadmium in mine waste: implications for transport, exposure, and bioavailability. Environ Sci Technol 2007; 41: 4164–4171.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Hu H, Shine J, Wright RO . The challenge posed to children's health by mixtures of toxic waste: the Tar Creek superfund site as a case-study. Pediatr Clin N Am 2007; 54: 155–175.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Zota AR, Willis R, Jim R, Norris GA, Shine JP, Duvall RM et al. Impact of mine waste on airborne respirable particulates in northeastern Oklahoma, United States. J Air Waste Manag Assoc 2009; 59: 1347–1357.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Zota AR, Schaider LA, Ettinger AS, Wright RO, Shine JP, Spengler JD . Metal sources and exposures in the homes of young children living near a mining impacted superfund site. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 2011; 21: 495–505.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Ettinger AS, Zota AR, Amarasiriwardena CJ, Hopkins MR, Schwartz J, Hu H et al. Maternal arsenic exposure and impaired glucose tolerance during pregnancy. Environ Health Perspect 2009; 117: 1059–1064.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Schaider LA, Senn DB, Estes ER, Brabander DJ, Shine JP . Sources and fates of heavy metals in a mining-impacted stream: temporal variability and the role of iron oxides. Sci Total Environ 2014; 490: 456–466.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Wright RO, Amarasiriwardena C, Woolf AD, Jim R, Bellinger DC . Neuropsychological correlates of hair arsenic, manganese, and cadmium levels in school-age children residing near a hazardous waste site. Neurotoxicology 2006; 27: 210–216.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. EPA. Validation Assessment of In Vitro Lead Bioaccessibility Assay for Predicting Relative Bioavailability of Lead in Soils and Soil-like Materials at Superfund Sites. OSWER 9200.3-51, 2009. Available at: http://www.epa.gov/superfund/bioavailability/lead_tsd_add09.pdf (last accessed 4 March 2014).

  24. CDC (US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Blood lead levels in children aged 1–5 years — United States, 1999–2010. Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2013; 62: 245–248.

    Google Scholar 

  25. EPA. Mid-Atlantic Risk Assessment: User’s Guide (November 2013), 2013a. Available at: http://www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/risk/human/rb-concentration_table/usersguide.htm (last accessed 24 February 2014).

  26. CDC Fourth Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals, Updated Tables (February, 2015). US Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Atlanta, GA, USA. 2015. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/biomonitoring/pdf/FourthReport_UpdatedTables_Feb2015.pdf (last accessed 13 March 2015).

  27. ATSDR (Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry). Report to Congress, Tar Creek Superfund Site, Ottawa County, Oklahoma, 2004. Available at: http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/sites/tarcreek/tarcreekreport.pdf (last accessed 4 October 2014).

  28. Tong S, Baghurst P, McMichael A, Sawyer M, Mudge J . Lifetime exposure to environmental lead and children's intelligence at 11-13 years: the Port Pirie cohort study. BMJ 1996; 312: 1569–1575.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. EPA. 40 CFR Part 745, Lead; Identification of Dangerous Levels of Lead, 2001. Available at: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2001-01-05/pdf/01-84.pdf (last acccessed 18 October 2014).

  30. Gaitens JM, Dixon SL, Jacobs DE, Nagaraja J, Strauss W, Wilson JW et al. Exposure of U.S. children to residential dust lead, 1999–2004: I. Housing and demographic factors. Environ Health Perspect 2009; 117: 461–467.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Claus Henn B, Ettinger AS, Schwartz J, Téllez-Rojo MM, Lamadrid-Figueroa H, Hernández-Avila M et al. Early postnatal blood manganese levels and children's neurodevelopment. Epidemiology 2010; 21: 433–439.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Takser L, Mergler D, Hellier G, Sahuquillo J, Huel G . Manganese, monoamine metabolite levels at birth, and child psychomotor development. Neurotoxicology 2003; 24: 667–674.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Gunier RB, Mora AM, Smith D, Arora M, Austin C, Eskenazi B et al. Biomarkers of manganese exposure in pregnant women and children living in an agricultural community in California. Environ Sci Technol 2014; 48: 14695–14702.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Zheng G, Zhong H, Guo Z, Wu Z, Zhang H, Wang C et al. Levels of heavy metals and trace elements in umbilical cord blood and the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes: a population-based study. Biol Trace Elem Res 2014; 160: 437–444.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Rudge CV, Röllin HB, Nogueira CM, Thomassen Y, Rudge MC, Odland JØ . The placenta as a barrier for toxic and essential elements in paired maternal and cord blood samples of South African delivering women. J Environ Monit 2009; 11: 1322–1330.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. Zota AR, Ettinger AS, Bouchard M, Amarasiriwardena CJ, Schwartz J, Hu H et al. Maternal blood manganese levels and infant birth weight. Epidemiology 2009; 20: 367–373.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. CDC. NCHS. NHANES, 2011–2012 Data Documentation, Codebook and Frequencies, Blood Lead, Cadmium, Total Mecury, Selenium, and Manganese (PbCd_G). Department of Health and Human Services, CDC: Hyattsville, MD, USA, 2013. Available at: http://www.n.cdc.gov/nchs/nhanes/2011-2012/PbCd_G.htm#LBXBMN (last accessed 18 October 2014).

  38. EPA. Arsenic in Drinking Water, 2013b. Available at: http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/rulesregs/sdwa/arsenic/index.cfm (last accesed 18 October 2014).

  39. ATSDR. Toxicological Profile for Arsenic, 2007. Availableat: http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/ToxProfiles/tp2.pdf (last accessed 29 December 2014).

  40. Oulhote Y, Le Bot B, Poupon J, Lucas JP, Mandin C, Etchevers A et al. Identification of sources of lead exposure in French children by lead isotope analysis: a cross-sectional study. Environ Health 2011; 10: 75.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  41. Dixon SL, Gaitens JM, Jacobs DE, Strauss W, Nagaraja J, Pivetz T et al. Exposure of U.S. children to residential dust lead, 1999–2004: II. The contribution of lead-contaminated dust to children's blood lead levels. Environ Health Perspect 2009; 117: 468–474.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  42. Yiin LM, Rhoads GG, Lioy PJ . Seasonal influences on childhood lead exposure. Environ Health Perspect 2000; 108: 177–182.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  43. Lanphear BP, Matte TD, Rogers J, Clickner RP, Dietz B, Bornschein RL et al. The contribution of lead-contaminated house dust and residential soil to children's blood lead levels. A pooled analysis of 12 epidemiologic studies. Environ Res 1998; 79: 51–68.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  44. Gulson B, Mizon K, Taylor A, Korsch M, Davis JM, Louie H et al. Pathways of Pb and Mn observed in a 5-year longitudinal investigation in young children and environmental measures from an urban setting. Environ Pollut 2014; 191: 38–49.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  45. EPA. Integrated Exposure Uptake Biokinetic Model for Lead in Children, Windows version (IEUBKwin v1.1 build 11), (February, 2010). Available at: http://www.epa.gov/superfund/lead/products.htm#user (last accessed 14 August 2015).

  46. Ljung K, Palm B, Grandér M, Vahter M . High concentrations of essential and toxic elements in infant formula and infant foods — a matter of concern. Food Chem 2011; 127: 943–951.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  47. Ettinger AS, Téllez-Rojo MM, Amarasiriwardena C, Bellinger D, Peterson K, Schwartz J et al. Effect of breast milk lead on infant blood lead levels at 1 month of age. Environ Health Perspect 2004; 112: 1381–1385.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  48. Kim Y, Park S . Iron deficiency increases blood concentrations of neurotoxic metals in children. Korean J Pediatr 2014; 57: 345–350.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by National Institutes of Health (NIH) Grants: P42-ES05947, P30-ES00002, P30-ES023515, P01-ES012874, R01-ES014930, R01-ES013744, and R00-ES019881; and by US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) STAR Research Assistance Agreement RD-83172501. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of NIH or US EPA. Each author declares no financial conflict of interest. We acknowledge the active cooperation of our community partners: Local Environmental Action Demanded (L.E.A.D.) Agency, particularly Rebecca Jim, and Integris Baptist Regional Health Center, particularly Dr. Mark Osborn. We are grateful to the families who participated. We thank Mary Happy, Karen Fields, Debbie Glassman, Vickie Kelly, Rebecca Lincoln, Kathleen McCarthy, and Adam Schmidt for assistance in field sampling; and Kimberly Newton, Dan Brabander, MeiAi Khoo, Emily Knurek, Robert Willis, Yongmei Shen, and Nick Lupoli for assistance with sample analysis.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, George Washington University, Milken Institute School of Public Health, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

    Ami R Zota & Anne M Riederer

  2. Department of Chronic Disease Epidemiology, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut, USA

    Adrienne S Ettinger

  3. Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Laurel A Schaider, James P Shine, Robert O Wright & John D Spengler

  4. Department of Preventive Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA

    Chitra J Amarasiriwardena & Robert O Wright

Authors
  1. Ami R Zota
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Anne M Riederer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Adrienne S Ettinger
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Laurel A Schaider
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. James P Shine
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Chitra J Amarasiriwardena
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Robert O Wright
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. John D Spengler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ami R Zota.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Supplementary Information accompanies the paper on the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology website

Supplementary information

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Zota, A., Riederer, A., Ettinger, A. et al. Associations between metals in residential environmental media and exposure biomarkers over time in infants living near a mining-impacted site. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 26, 510–519 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2015.76

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2015.76

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links