Demographic and anthropometric characteristics and their effect on the concentration of heavy metals (arsenic, lead, chromium, zinc) in children and adolescents

Majid Hashemi; Saeed Rajabi; Mostafa Eghbalian; Joanna Suliburska; Habibeh Nasab

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e13621

Demographic and anthropometric characteristics and their effect on the concentration of heavy metals (arsenic, lead, chromium, zinc) in children and adolescents

Heliyon. 2023 Feb 9;9(2):e13621. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e13621. eCollection 2023 Feb.

Authors

Majid Hashemi^{1

2}, Saeed Rajabi^{3

4}, Mostafa Eghbalian⁵, Joanna Suliburska⁶, Habibeh Nasab⁷

Affiliations

¹ Environmental Health Engineering Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.
² Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Faculty of Public Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.
³ Student Research Committee, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
⁴ Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
⁵ Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Center, Institute of Basic and Clinical Physiology Sciences, Kerman University of Medical Sciences Kerman, Iran.
⁶ Department of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Food Science and Nutrition, Poznań University of Life Sciences, Poznań, Poland.
⁷ Environmental Science and Technology Research Center, Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran.

Abstract

Background: Biomonitoring is a well-established method for assessing people's exposure to contaminants in the environment. Many non-communicable diseases can be prevented or aggravated by physiologically monitoring heavy metals in biological matrices such as urine, evaluating their association with non-communicable diseases, and attempting to limit exposure to them. The focus of this research was to determine the association between potentially toxic elements (PTE) such as arsenic (As), lead (Pb), chromium (Cr), and zinc (Zn) urine concentrations and anthropometric indices and demographic data in children and adolescents aged 6-18 years in Kerman, Iran.

Methods: 106 children and adolescents aged 6-18 years in Kerman were randomly selected. A questionnaire was used to acquire demographic information from the participants' parents. Height, weight, and waist circumference (WC) were all assessed, as well as body mass index (BMI) and BMI Z-score. Induced Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP/MS) was used to quantify As, Pb, Cr, and Zn concentrations in participants' urine.

Results: The geometric mean concentrations were As (38.72 ± 39.30), Pb (19.58 ± 22.91), Cr (1.06 ± 0.28), and Zn (344.72 ± 288.16) μg/creatinine. Boys aged 12-18 years old had higher mean concentration of As than boys aged 6-11 years old (p = 0.019) according to two measurement standards, μg/L, and μg/creatinine, whereas girls had no significant difference. In general, there was a strong association between parental education and metal concentrations of As, Pb, and Cr. As, Pb, and Zn (μg/creatinine) had a significant positive association with BMI z-score and BMI. As, Pb, and Zn metals were shown to have a substantial positive association (p < 0.001). There was no evidence of an association between the metals evaluated and WC.

Conclusions: The findings of this study generally showed that there was a significant association between demographic characteristics and exposure to these metals in children and adolescents, indicating that these people were exposed to these metals, which can harm their health. As a result, the pathways of exposure to metals must be limited.

Keywords: Adolescents; Body mass index; Children; Demographic factors; Heavy metals; Obesity.