The researcher looked at the clippings in
two sections, to investigate whether soil
arsenic could be moving directly into the
toenails.
Image: iStockphoto
Arsenic levels detected in toenail clippings from children living in the Victorian Goldfields region are not alarming, but suggest that we should not be too complacent, according to research from the University of Ballarat.
“Because arsenic is naturally occurring around gold mineralisation, and is even used as an indicator in gold exploration, it can be concentrated in the mine waste dumps that are still scattered across our landscape,” Dr Dora Pearce said.
“Extreme exposures to arsenic through contaminated drinking water have caused health problems in several parts of the world, including Argentina, Bangladesh and Taiwan.
“Research is ongoing, here and overseas, to determine if low levels of exposure to arsenic in the soil and water environments are potentially problematic.”
The University of Ballarat’s School of Science and Engineering has a long history of arsenic research and was heavily involved in Dr Pearce’s work.
Dr Pearce said while most arsenic that entered the body was excreted very quickly via the urine, some was excreted into the hair and nails, making it easy to investigate exposure patterns.
“In this present project, we collected children’s toenail clippings and soil from where they played at home,” Dr Pearce said.
“A funding grant from the Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering enabled us to measure the amount of arsenic in soils and toenail clippings, and check for residual surface contamination.
“Grants from the Australian Synchrotron Research Program allowed us to map arsenic in two thin sections of toenail clippings to identify any patterns and explore the chemical form of the arsenic in situ – having to dissolve out the arsenic could have changed its chemical form – and explore the possibility that arsenic could diffuse directly into toenails from mine waste.
“We analysed our thin sections at the Advanced Photon Source in Chicago, Illinois, but since then, the Australian Synchrotron, located at Monash University, has become operational.”
Dr Pearce said children’s toenail arsenic concentrations were much lower than in some other studies, but were weakly correlated with soil arsenic concentrations.
“Arsenic maps revealed brief exposures over the period of toenail growth encapsulated in the clippings,” Dr Pearce said.
"Two different chemical forms of arsenic were identified, providing insight into how the body absorbs and excretes arsenic.
“Despite management strategies put in place to regulate soil arsenic in the Goldfields region of Victoria, our study suggests that arsenic in some soils can still be absorbed into the body.
“We hope that by raising community awareness of this issue, childhood exposures to arsenic in soil will be further reduced.”
"We thank our study participants, their families and school communities, and Professor Andrea Gerson, Director of the Applied Centre for Structural and Synchrotron Studies, University of South Australia, for their valuable contribution to this research,” Dr Pearce said.
“If you live in an historic gold mining area, taking simple steps, such as not allowing children to play around mine waste, making sure they wash their hands before eating, and growing groundcover plants on bare patches of soil where they play, can help reduce their exposure to arsenic.”
For further information, see the Victorian Government’s Better Health Channel fact sheet: Arsenic mine tailing and health, available at:
Associate Professor Kim Dowling, Head of the School of Science and Engineering, fully supported the research.
“The University of Ballarat has a strong regional and environmental focus, as well as expertise in geology, geochemistry and mineralogy," Associate Professor Kim Dowling said.
“Arsenic research work has been conducted at the University over the past seven years.”
Associate Professor Dowling, a geochemist, has lead arsenic research at the University of Ballarat over the past seven years, including investigations of arsenic uptake by vegetables and native plants, and plans to continue this important research.
Dr Dora Pearce completed her PhD in the School of Science and Engineering, University of Ballarat under the supervision of Associate Professor Kim Dowling, and Professor Malcolm Sim, Monash Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health, Monash University.
Editor's Note: Original news release can be found here. More information on arsenic is available here.
|
