High concentrations of heavy metals in neighborhoods near ore smelters in northern Mexico
High concentrations of heavy metals in neighborhoods near ore smelters in northern Mexico
复制标题
DOI：
10.2307/3434594
复制
发表时间：
1999-04-01
影响因子：
10.4
通讯作者：
Roda, S
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Benin, AL;Sargent, JD;Roda, S
在发展中国家，没有环境控制的快速工业化造成了社区的重金属污染。我们假设，位于墨西哥北部三个城市矿石工业附近的居民区将受到多种污染物(砷、镉和铅)的严重污染，这些地点将是重金属的点源。为了验证这些假设，我们从金属冶炼厂[Torreon(n=19)]和奇瓦瓦(n=19)]和一家金属精炼厂[蒙特雷(n=23)]附近2米范围内的居民区获得了路边表面粉尘样本。粉尘中的重金属浓度与离工业现场的距离有关。利用对数变换后的数据，用最小二乘回归估计了粉尘金属浓度与距离的相关性。在吉娃娃，粉尘中砷、镉和铅浓度的中位数分别为32、10和277微克/克；在蒙特雷分别为42、2和467微克/克；在托里昂分别为113、112和2,448微克/克。托雷恩活跃的冶炼厂周围所有重金属的粉尘浓度都明显较高，超过90%的样本超过了超级基金的清理目标。在所有地点，粉尘浓度与距离工业污染源的距离成反比，这意味着这些行业可能是污染源。我们的结论是，这三个城市金属冶炼和精炼地点周围的居民区受到重金属污染，浓度可能会对附近居民的健康构成威胁。应对这些雄鹿附近的人类暴露情况进行评估。由于冶炼厂附近可能存在多种重金属污染物，研究人员应避免将毒性归因于一种重金属，除非其他重金属已被测量并证明不共存。
In developing countries, rapid industrialization without environmental controls has resulted in heavy metal contamination of communities. We hypothesized that residential neighborhoods located near ore industries in three northern Mexican cities would be heavily polluted with multiple contaminants (arsenic, cadmium, and lead) and that these sites would be point sources for the heavy metals. To evaluate these hypotheses, we obtained samples of roadside surface dust from residential neighborhoods within 2 m of metal smelters [Torreon (n = 19)] and Chihuahua (n = 19)] and a metal refinery [Monterrey (It = 23)]. Heavy metal concentrations in dust were mapped with respect to distance from the industrial sites. Correlation between dust metal concentration and distance was estimated with least-squares regression using log-transformed data. Median dust arsenic, cadmium, and lead concentrations were 32, 10, and 277 mu g/g, respectively, in Chihuahua; 42, 2, and 467 mu g/g, respectively, in Monterrey, and 113, 112, and 2,448 mu g/g, respectively, in Torreon. Dust concentrations of all heavy metals were significantly higher around the active smelter in Torreon, where more than 90% of samples exceeded Superfund cleanup goals. Ar all sites, dust concentrations were inversely related to distance from the industrial source, implicating these industries as the likely source of the contamination. We concluded that residential neighborhoods around metal smelting and refining sites in these three cities are contaminated by heavy metals at concentrations likely to pose a health threat to people living nearby. Evaluations of human exposure near these sires should be conducted. Because multiple heavy metal pollutants may exist near smelter sites, researchers should avoid attributing toxicity to one heavy metal unless others have been measured and shown not to coexist.