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Effect of lead exposure from electronic waste on haemoglobin synthesis in children

BACKGROUND: Primitive electronic waste (e-waste) recycling is ongoing in Guiyu, so toxic heavy metals may continue to threaten the health of children in the area. OBJECTIVE: This study primarily aimed to evaluate the effect of e-waste exposure on haemoglobin (Hb) synthesis in preschool children. MET...

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Autores principales: Wang, Hongwu, Huang, Peng, Zhang, Ruibiao, Feng, Xueyong, Tang, Qiulin, Liu, Sixi, Wen, Feiqiu, Zeng, Li, Liu, Yufeng, Wang, Tianyou, Ma, Lian
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Springer Berlin Heidelberg 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8238723/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33474627
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00420-020-01619-1
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author Wang, Hongwu
Huang, Peng
Zhang, Ruibiao
Feng, Xueyong
Tang, Qiulin
Liu, Sixi
Wen, Feiqiu
Zeng, Li
Liu, Yufeng
Wang, Tianyou
Ma, Lian
author_facet Wang, Hongwu
Huang, Peng
Zhang, Ruibiao
Feng, Xueyong
Tang, Qiulin
Liu, Sixi
Wen, Feiqiu
Zeng, Li
Liu, Yufeng
Wang, Tianyou
Ma, Lian
author_sort Wang, Hongwu
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Primitive electronic waste (e-waste) recycling is ongoing in Guiyu, so toxic heavy metals may continue to threaten the health of children in the area. OBJECTIVE: This study primarily aimed to evaluate the effect of e-waste exposure on haemoglobin (Hb) synthesis in preschool children. METHODS: Medical examinations were conducted with the permission of children’s guardians and the approval of the Ethics Committee of the Medical College of Shantou University. This study recruited 224 children (aged 3–6 years, exposed group) who lived in Guiyu and 204 children (aged 3–6 years, control group) who lived in a town free of e-waste pollution. Blood levels of lead, Hb, ferritin, folate and vitamin B(12) were tested in all children. Furthermore, all children were assessed for thalassemia, and their parents were asked to fill in questionnaires. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in the level of ferritin, folate, or vitamin B(12) between the exposed and control groups (P > 0.05). No children were identified as having thalassemia in all study participants. Blood lead level (BLL) and the risk of children with BLL ≥ 10 µg/dL in the exposed group were significantly higher than those in the control group (all P < 0.01). Three subgroups of each group were created according to BLL (Group A: < 5.0 µg/dL; Group B: 5.0–9.9 µg/dL; Group C: ≥ 10.0 µg/dL). Hb level decreased with elevated BLL in the exposed group (P = 0.03), but not in the control group (P = 0.14). Hb levels in group B and group C were also significantly lower in the exposed group than in the control group (Group B: 122.6 ± 9.5 g/L versus 125.8 ± 8.2 g/L, P = 0.01; Group C: 120.3 ± 7.3 g/L versus 123.6 ± 8.3 g/L, P = 0.03). In addition, the prevalence of anaemia associated with BLLs above 10 µg/dL and between 5.0 and 9.9 µg/dL were both significantly higher in the exposed group than in the control group (4.0% vs. 0.5%, 5.4% vs. 1.5%, respectively, both P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Lead exposure more significantly inhibits Hb synthesis in children who live in e-waste dismantling areas than in those who live in non-e-waste dismantling areas. Other toxins released from e-waste may also contribute to the inhibition of Hb synthesis and may lead to anaemia in local children. Further investigations are needed to provide evidence for the development of relevant protective measures.
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spelling pubmed-82387232021-07-13 Effect of lead exposure from electronic waste on haemoglobin synthesis in children Wang, Hongwu Huang, Peng Zhang, Ruibiao Feng, Xueyong Tang, Qiulin Liu, Sixi Wen, Feiqiu Zeng, Li Liu, Yufeng Wang, Tianyou Ma, Lian Int Arch Occup Environ Health Original Article BACKGROUND: Primitive electronic waste (e-waste) recycling is ongoing in Guiyu, so toxic heavy metals may continue to threaten the health of children in the area. OBJECTIVE: This study primarily aimed to evaluate the effect of e-waste exposure on haemoglobin (Hb) synthesis in preschool children. METHODS: Medical examinations were conducted with the permission of children’s guardians and the approval of the Ethics Committee of the Medical College of Shantou University. This study recruited 224 children (aged 3–6 years, exposed group) who lived in Guiyu and 204 children (aged 3–6 years, control group) who lived in a town free of e-waste pollution. Blood levels of lead, Hb, ferritin, folate and vitamin B(12) were tested in all children. Furthermore, all children were assessed for thalassemia, and their parents were asked to fill in questionnaires. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in the level of ferritin, folate, or vitamin B(12) between the exposed and control groups (P > 0.05). No children were identified as having thalassemia in all study participants. Blood lead level (BLL) and the risk of children with BLL ≥ 10 µg/dL in the exposed group were significantly higher than those in the control group (all P < 0.01). Three subgroups of each group were created according to BLL (Group A: < 5.0 µg/dL; Group B: 5.0–9.9 µg/dL; Group C: ≥ 10.0 µg/dL). Hb level decreased with elevated BLL in the exposed group (P = 0.03), but not in the control group (P = 0.14). Hb levels in group B and group C were also significantly lower in the exposed group than in the control group (Group B: 122.6 ± 9.5 g/L versus 125.8 ± 8.2 g/L, P = 0.01; Group C: 120.3 ± 7.3 g/L versus 123.6 ± 8.3 g/L, P = 0.03). In addition, the prevalence of anaemia associated with BLLs above 10 µg/dL and between 5.0 and 9.9 µg/dL were both significantly higher in the exposed group than in the control group (4.0% vs. 0.5%, 5.4% vs. 1.5%, respectively, both P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Lead exposure more significantly inhibits Hb synthesis in children who live in e-waste dismantling areas than in those who live in non-e-waste dismantling areas. Other toxins released from e-waste may also contribute to the inhibition of Hb synthesis and may lead to anaemia in local children. Further investigations are needed to provide evidence for the development of relevant protective measures. Springer Berlin Heidelberg 2021-01-20 2021 /pmc/articles/PMC8238723/ /pubmed/33474627 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00420-020-01619-1 Text en © The Author(s) 2021 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Open AccessThis article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) .
spellingShingle Original Article
Wang, Hongwu
Huang, Peng
Zhang, Ruibiao
Feng, Xueyong
Tang, Qiulin
Liu, Sixi
Wen, Feiqiu
Zeng, Li
Liu, Yufeng
Wang, Tianyou
Ma, Lian
Effect of lead exposure from electronic waste on haemoglobin synthesis in children
title Effect of lead exposure from electronic waste on haemoglobin synthesis in children
title_full Effect of lead exposure from electronic waste on haemoglobin synthesis in children
title_fullStr Effect of lead exposure from electronic waste on haemoglobin synthesis in children
title_full_unstemmed Effect of lead exposure from electronic waste on haemoglobin synthesis in children
title_short Effect of lead exposure from electronic waste on haemoglobin synthesis in children
title_sort effect of lead exposure from electronic waste on haemoglobin synthesis in children
topic Original Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8238723/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33474627
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00420-020-01619-1
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