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The distance-to-source trend in vanadium and arsenic exposures for residents living near a petrochemical complex

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 26, pages 270–276 (2016)Cite this article

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Abstract

Biological monitoring of vanadium (V) and arsenic (As) for residents living near a big petrochemical complex has not been previously studied. This study aims to investigate distance-to-source trends in urinary levels and dispersion-estimated concentrations of V and As in areas surrounding a petrochemical complex in central Taiwan. Our study subjects were 1424 residents living in the townships up to ~40 km from the petrochemical complex, and categorized as near (Zone A), further (Zone B) and furthest (Zone C) from the complex. Urinary and ambient V and As levels were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Two-stage dispersion model was used to estimate V and As concentrations at each study subject’s address. Multiple linear regression models were used to study the effects of distance-to-source and estimated air concentrations of V and As on the urinary V and As levels of study subjects. Area-wide levels of both V and As showed a high-to-low trend in urinary levels (μg/g-creatinine) from Zone A (V with 2.86±2.30 and As with 104.6±147.9) to Zone C (V with 0.73±0.72 and As with 73.8±90.8). For study subjects, urinary V and As levels were decreased by 0.09 and 1.17 μg/g-creatinine, respectively, with 1 km away from the emission source of the petrochemical complex, and urinary V levels were significantly elevated by 0.38 μg/g-creatinine with a 1 ng/m3 increase in estimated ambient V concentrations at their addresses. Our study concludes a distance-to-source gradient in V and As exposures exists for residents living near a petrochemical complex with oil refineries and coal-fired power plants and two-stage dispersion model can predict such a trend for V when inhalation is the major exposure route, but not for As that exposure may be from multiple sources and exposure routes.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the financial support provided by the Environmental Protection Bureau, Yunlin County, Taiwan (Project: YLEPB-98-016, YLEPB-99-022 and YLEPB-100-029).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Occupational Medicine and Industrial Hygiene, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

    Tzu-Hsuen Yuan, Chia-Pin Chio, Ruei-Hao Shie, Wei-Hsu Pien & Chang-Chuan Chan

  2. Green Energy and Environment Research Laboratories, Industrial Technology Research Institute, Hsinchu, Taiwan

    Ruei-Hao Shie

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  1. Tzu-Hsuen Yuan
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Correspondence to Chang-Chuan Chan.

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Yuan, TH., Chio, CP., Shie, RH. et al. The distance-to-source trend in vanadium and arsenic exposures for residents living near a petrochemical complex. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 26, 270–276 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2015.2

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