Organic and Inorganic Mercury in Biological Samples of Flouresecent Lamp Industries Workers and Health Risks.

OBJECTIVE: The present study aims to investigate the concentrations of Hg and its aspects methyl mercury (Me-Hg) and inorganic mercury (I-Hg) in the biological samples (BSs) of fluorescent lamp industries workers (FLIWs). METHODOLOGY: Different BSs including red blood cells (RBCs), plasma, urine, hair and nails were collected from the workers exposed to Hg and unexposed persons were selected as control group to measure both the T-Hg concentration as well as its species in different biological samples through quantitative analysis. Health data was collected through questionnaire survey. RESULTS: The mean concentrations of T-Hg (31.9 µg/L), Me-Hg (27.7 µg/L), and I-Hg (5.36 µg/L) in RBCs were found significantly ( P < 0.001) higher among the workers ( n = 40) as compared to the control group ( n = 40). Similarly the mean Hg concentrations in plasma, urine, hair and nails were also significantly higher among the workers than the control group. The statistical relation between Hg concentration and demographic characteristics observed that workers experience and fish consumption has increased the Hg concentration while age, weight and smoking found no significant effect on Hg concentration in the BSs. CONCLUSION: The study observed that the workers were highly exposed to high concentration of Hg and they are at a high health risk.

Contamination of soil, medicinal, and fodder plants with lead and cadmium present in mine-affected areas, Northern Pakistan.

This study aimed to investigate the lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) concentrations in the soil and plants (medicinal and fodder) grown in chromite mining-affected areas, Northern Pakistan. Soil and plant samples were collected and analyzed for Pb and Cd concentrations using atomic absorption spectrometer. Soil pollution load indices (PLIs) were greater than 2 for both Cd and Pb, indicating high level of contamination in the study area. Furthermore, Cd concentrations in the soil surrounding the mining sites exceeded the maximum allowable limit (MAL) (0.6 mg kg(-1)), while the concentrations of Pb were lower than the MAL (350 mg kg(-1)) set by State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) for agriculture soil. The concentrations of Cd and Pb were significantly higher (P < 0.001) in the soil of the mining-contaminated sites as compared to the reference site, which can be attributed to the dispersion of toxic heavy metals, present in the bed rocks and waste of the mines. The concentrations of Pb and Cd in majority of medicinal and fodder plant species grown in surrounding areas of mines were higher than their MALs set by World Health Organization/Food Agriculture Organization (WHO/FAO) for herbal (10 and 0.3 mg kg(-1), respectively) and edible (0.3 and 0.2 mg kg(-1), respectively) plants. The high concentrations of Cd and Pb may cause contamination of the food chain and health risk.