Arsenic is a carcinogenic heavy metal that has a species-dependent health effects and abandoned metal mines are a source of significant arsenic exposure. Therefore, the aims of this study were to analyze urinary arsenic species and their concentration in residents living near abandoned metal mines and to monitor the environmental health effects of abandoned metal mines in Korea.
This study was performed in 2014 to assess urinary arsenic excretion patterns of residents living near abandoned metal mines in South Korea. Demographic data such as gender, age, mine working history, period of residency, dietary patterns, smoking and alcohol use, and type of potable water consumed were obtaining using a questionnaire. Informed consent was also obtained from all study subjects (
The geometric mean of urinary arsenic (sum of dimethylarsinic acid, monomethylarsonic acid, As3+, and As5+) concentration was determined to be 131.98 μg/L (geometric mean; 95% CI, 116.72–149.23) while urinary inorganic arsenic (As3+ and As5+) concentration was 0.81 μg/L (95% CI, 0.53–1.23). 66.3% (
We propose that the observed elevation in urinary arsenic concentration in residents living near abandoned metal mines may be due to environmental contamination from the abandoned metal mine.
Not Applicable (We do not have health care intervention on human participants).
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The aim of this study was to determine the association between urinary cadmium (U-cd) concentration and diabetes in middle-aged Korean residents of abandoned mines using the first Health Effect Surveillance for Residents in Abandoned Metal mines (HESRAM).
This study was cross-sectional study conducted on 719 residents between 40–70 years in 38 abandoned metal mines in Korea. Data was collected by HESRAM from 2008 to 2011. The correlation coefficient of U-cd and fasting blood glucose, odds ratio in urinary cadmium tertiles and diabetes prevalence was analyzed according to the sex category.
The correlation coefficient U-cd concentration and fasting blood glucose was 0.182 in male. Logistic regression analysis in male revealed a third tertile odds ratio of U-cd (2 μg/g creatinine < U-cd) while diabetes prevalence was 1.81 (95 % CI 1.05-3.12) with adjusted age, BMI, smoking and alcohol consumption, region, family income. On the other hand, the odds ratio for third tertile of U-cd (3 μg/g creatinine < U-cd) between diabetes prevalence in female was 1.39 (95 % CI 0.52-3.72) in addition to adjusted menopausal status.
Environmental exposure to cadmium in abandoned mine residents was associated with diabetes in male. Closed monitoring and periodic evaluation of the health effects of chronic environmental exposure on abandoned mines residents will be needed.
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We present data from the Korean National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (KNHANES) 2008–2009 on the combination of vitamin D deficiency and arsenic exposure on diabetes mellitus (DM) in a representative sample of the adult Korean population.
This study was based on data obtained from the KNHANES 2008–2009, which was conducted for 3 years (2007–2009) using a rolling sampling design that involved a complex, stratified, multistage, probability-cluster survey of a representative sample of the non-institutionalized civilian population in South Korea.
Data analysis revealed that subjects who showed both vitamin D levels in the 1st quartile (Q) and urinary arsenic levels in the 4th Q, had a 302% increased risk of having DM, as compared with those whose vitamin D and urinary arsenic levels were in the 4th Q and 1st Q, respectively.
The present study reconfirmed an association of DM with low vitamin D levels and arsenic exposure, and further showed a combination of vitamin D deficiency and arsenic exposure on DM in the general Korean population. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report describing a combination of vitamin D deficiency and arsenic exposure on DM. The present findings have important public health implications.
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