Water Consumption as Source of Arsenic, Chromium, and Mercury in Children Living in Rural Yucatan, Mexico: Blood and Urine Levels (original) (raw)

as a vector of exposure in children. Also, the factor analysis shows chronic exposure in the case of arsenic, as well as an ongoing detoxification process through urine in the case of mercury. Further studies should be done in order to determine other potential metal exposure pathways among children. Keywords Metals • Children • Water • Blood • Urine • Cultural patterns Metals like As, Cd, Cr, Hg and Pb among others, are pollutants of growing concern worldwide because of their potential toxicity. They are ubiquitous in all environments and matrices; therefore, exposure to them may be high and constant (Yonghua 2013; ME 2007). Children are especially susceptible to exposure because of their high metabolism, body weight, food/water intake, play, and sanitary practices (EPA 2002). Importantly, mainly (but not solely) arsenic (As) as As 3+ , chromium (Cr) as Cr 6+ , and mercury (Hg) as mehtylmercury could be potentially toxic for children, but commonly the total concentration of the element in different body matrices is used as the recommended value worldwide (