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Multiple exposure pathways and health risk assessment of selenium for children in a coal mining area

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Abstract

Selenium (Se) presents a dual role to human body, harmful or beneficial, depending on its concentration. The exposure to this element has been associated to coal mining. Health risk assessment allows estimating and evaluating the risks that environmental hazards pose to vulnerable groups of populations. The present study aimed to analyze the risk of exposure to Se through multiple exposure pathways in children living in Candiota city, where the largest coal reserve of Brazil is located. Data from previous environmental (air, soil, drinking water, and food) and population parameters (age, weight, and food intake) were used to assess the health risk, which was calculated with real values (extracted from the population) and fixed reference values, based on the USEPA recommendation. Most of the children had low health risk (HQ < 1); however, in the most conservative scenarios (higher Se values in the different matrices), there was a high health risk in both scenarios, using population data or the USEPA parameters. The mean HQ using reference values was twice higher than using real values. Se content in air, soil, and drinking water did not represent important average daily dose in both scenarios. While, food intake was a main source of Se exposure, contributing with 96.9% of total Se intake. The findings of this study reinforce the importance of food intake for exposure to Se and the difference between HQs using population measures and fixed parameters of the USEPA highlights the need for adaptations to local scenarios for a better dimensioning of toxicological risk management actions.

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Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the CAPES for providing doctoral scholarships (MS and PFR) and express their gratitude to the subjects who provided critical information for this study.

Funding

This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brasil (CAPES) - Finance Code 001 and the Institutional Program for Internationalization (CAPES-PrInt).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Da Saúde, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande, Rio Grande, RS, Brazil

    Marina dos Santos, Paula Florêncio Ramires, Ana Luíza Muccillo-Baisch & Flavio Manoel Rodrigues da Silva Junior

  2. Laboratório de Ensaios Farmacológicos e Toxicológicos, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande, Rio Grande, RS, Brazil

    Marina dos Santos, Paula Florêncio Ramires, Ana Luíza Muccillo-Baisch & Flavio Manoel Rodrigues da Silva Junior

  3. Área de Toxicología, Universidad de La Laguna, 38200 La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain

    María Consuelo Revert Gironés, María del Carmen Rubio Armendáriz & Soraya Paz Montelongo

Authors
  1. Marina dos Santos
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  2. Paula Florêncio Ramires
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  3. María Consuelo Revert Gironés
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  4. María del Carmen Rubio Armendáriz
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  5. Soraya Paz Montelongo
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  6. Ana Luíza Muccillo-Baisch
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  7. Flavio Manoel Rodrigues da Silva Junior
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Contributions

MS was responsible for the elaboration of the research project, for the collection of epidemiological data, and for scientific writing; PFR was responsible for reviewing the calculations and preparing the map; MCRG, MCRA, SPM, and ALMB were responsible for designing the proposal and discussing the results. FMRSJ was the study advisor.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Flavio Manoel Rodrigues da Silva Junior.

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Conflicts of interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Ethics approval

The study was conducted according to all the ethical precepts recommended by the Declaration of Helsinki, which regulates research involving human beings. Besides, the study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee in the Health Area of the Federal University of Rio Grande (CEPAS - FURG) under No. 36/2013.

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A written informed consent was obtained from all children and their guardians.

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The manuscript is reviewed and approved by all authors.

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Responsible Editor: Lotfi Aleya

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dos Santos, M., Ramires, P.F., Gironés, M.C.R. et al. Multiple exposure pathways and health risk assessment of selenium for children in a coal mining area. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 13562–13569 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-11514-4

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