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Arsenic on the Hands of Children after Playing in Playgrounds
Increasing concerns over the use of wood treated with chromated copper arsenate (CCA) in playground structures arise from potential exposure to arsenic of children playing in these playgrounds. Limited data from previous studies analyzing arsenic levels in sand samples collected from CCA playgrounds...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , , , |
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Formato: | Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
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National Institue of Environmental Health Sciences
2004
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Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1247563/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15471728 http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.7197 |
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author | Kwon, Elena Zhang, Hongquan Wang, Zhongwen Jhangri, Gian S. Lu, Xiufen Fok, Nelson Gabos, Stephan Li, Xing-Fang Le, X. Chris |
author_facet | Kwon, Elena Zhang, Hongquan Wang, Zhongwen Jhangri, Gian S. Lu, Xiufen Fok, Nelson Gabos, Stephan Li, Xing-Fang Le, X. Chris |
author_sort | Kwon, Elena |
collection | PubMed |
description | Increasing concerns over the use of wood treated with chromated copper arsenate (CCA) in playground structures arise from potential exposure to arsenic of children playing in these playgrounds. Limited data from previous studies analyzing arsenic levels in sand samples collected from CCA playgrounds are inconsistent and cannot be directly translated to the amount of children’s exposure to arsenic. The objective of this study was to determine the quantitative amounts of arsenic on the hands of children in contact with CCA-treated wood structures or sand in playgrounds. We compared arsenic levels on the hands of 66 children playing in eight CCA playgrounds with levels of arsenic found on the hands of 64 children playing in another eight playgrounds not constructed with CCA-treated wood. The children’s age and duration of playtime were recorded at each playground. After play, children’s hands were washed in a bag containing 150 mL of deionized water. Arsenic levels in the hand-washing water were quantified by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Our results show that the ages of the children sampled and the duration of play in the playgrounds were similar between the groups of CCA and non-CCA playgrounds. The mean amount of water-soluble arsenic on children’s hands from CCA playgrounds was 0.50 μg (range, 0.0078–3.5 μg). This was significantly higher (p < 0.001) than the mean amount of water-soluble arsenic on children’s hands from non-CCA playgrounds, which was 0.095 μg (range, 0.011–0.41 μg). There was no significant difference in the amount of sand on the children’s hands and the concentration of arsenic in the sand between the CCA and non-CCA groups. The higher values of arsenic on the hands of children playing in the CCA playgrounds are probably due to direct contact with CCA-treated wood. Washing hands after play would reduce the levels of potential exposure because most of the arsenic on children’s hands was washed off with water. The maximum amount of arsenic on children’s hands from the entire group of study participants was < 4 μg, which is lower than the average daily intake of arsenic from water and food. |
format | Text |
id | pubmed-1247563 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2004 |
publisher | National Institue of Environmental Health Sciences |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-12475632005-11-08 Arsenic on the Hands of Children after Playing in Playgrounds Kwon, Elena Zhang, Hongquan Wang, Zhongwen Jhangri, Gian S. Lu, Xiufen Fok, Nelson Gabos, Stephan Li, Xing-Fang Le, X. Chris Environ Health Perspect Children's Health Increasing concerns over the use of wood treated with chromated copper arsenate (CCA) in playground structures arise from potential exposure to arsenic of children playing in these playgrounds. Limited data from previous studies analyzing arsenic levels in sand samples collected from CCA playgrounds are inconsistent and cannot be directly translated to the amount of children’s exposure to arsenic. The objective of this study was to determine the quantitative amounts of arsenic on the hands of children in contact with CCA-treated wood structures or sand in playgrounds. We compared arsenic levels on the hands of 66 children playing in eight CCA playgrounds with levels of arsenic found on the hands of 64 children playing in another eight playgrounds not constructed with CCA-treated wood. The children’s age and duration of playtime were recorded at each playground. After play, children’s hands were washed in a bag containing 150 mL of deionized water. Arsenic levels in the hand-washing water were quantified by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Our results show that the ages of the children sampled and the duration of play in the playgrounds were similar between the groups of CCA and non-CCA playgrounds. The mean amount of water-soluble arsenic on children’s hands from CCA playgrounds was 0.50 μg (range, 0.0078–3.5 μg). This was significantly higher (p < 0.001) than the mean amount of water-soluble arsenic on children’s hands from non-CCA playgrounds, which was 0.095 μg (range, 0.011–0.41 μg). There was no significant difference in the amount of sand on the children’s hands and the concentration of arsenic in the sand between the CCA and non-CCA groups. The higher values of arsenic on the hands of children playing in the CCA playgrounds are probably due to direct contact with CCA-treated wood. Washing hands after play would reduce the levels of potential exposure because most of the arsenic on children’s hands was washed off with water. The maximum amount of arsenic on children’s hands from the entire group of study participants was < 4 μg, which is lower than the average daily intake of arsenic from water and food. National Institue of Environmental Health Sciences 2004-10 2004-06-17 /pmc/articles/PMC1247563/ /pubmed/15471728 http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.7197 Text en http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/ Publication of EHP lies in the public domain and is therefore without copyright. All text from EHP may be reprinted freely. Use of materials published in EHP should be acknowledged (for example, ?Reproduced with permission from Environmental Health Perspectives?); pertinent reference information should be provided for the article from which the material was reproduced. Articles from EHP, especially the News section, may contain photographs or illustrations copyrighted by other commercial organizations or individuals that may not be used without obtaining prior approval from the holder of the copyright. |
spellingShingle | Children's Health Kwon, Elena Zhang, Hongquan Wang, Zhongwen Jhangri, Gian S. Lu, Xiufen Fok, Nelson Gabos, Stephan Li, Xing-Fang Le, X. Chris Arsenic on the Hands of Children after Playing in Playgrounds |
title | Arsenic on the Hands of Children after Playing in Playgrounds |
title_full | Arsenic on the Hands of Children after Playing in Playgrounds |
title_fullStr | Arsenic on the Hands of Children after Playing in Playgrounds |
title_full_unstemmed | Arsenic on the Hands of Children after Playing in Playgrounds |
title_short | Arsenic on the Hands of Children after Playing in Playgrounds |
title_sort | arsenic on the hands of children after playing in playgrounds |
topic | Children's Health |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1247563/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15471728 http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.7197 |
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