%0 Journal Article
%T What Do We Know of Childhood Exposures to Metals (Arsenic, Cadmium, Lead, and Mercury) in Emerging Market Countries?
%A Lindsey M. Horton
%A Mary E. Mortensen
%A Yulia Iossifova
%A Marlena M. Wald
%A Paula Burgess
%J International Journal of Pediatrics
%D 2013
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2013/872596
%X Arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury present potential health risks to children who are exposed through inhalation or ingestion. Emerging Market countries experience rapid industrial development that may coincide with the increased release of these metals into the environment. A literature review was conducted for English language articles from the 21st century on pediatric exposures to arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury in the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) top 10 Emerging Market countries: Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Poland, Russia, South Korea, Taiwan, and Turkey. Seventy-six peer-reviewed, published studies on pediatric exposure to metals met the inclusion criteria. The reported concentrations of metals in blood and urine from these studies were generally higher than US reference values, and many studies identified adverse health effects associated with metals exposure. Evidence of exposure to metals in the pediatric population of these Emerging Market countries demonstrates a need for interventions to reduce exposure and efforts to establish country-specific reference values through surveillance or biomonitoring. The findings from review of these 10 countries also suggest the need for country-specific public health policies and clinician education in Emerging Markets. 1. Introduction Arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury have been studied extensively due to the known serious adverse health effects associated with human exposure to these metals [1¨C4]. Although arsenic is a metalloid, it is commonly referred to as a metal; for the purposes of this paper, the term "metal" is used for arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury. Anthropogenic sources of these metals in the environment worldwide include industrial emissions, fossil fuel burning, waste incineration, consumer products, and mining and smelting wastes [5, 6]. With rapid economic development and limited regulatory infrastructure to provide oversight, developing countries provide instances of large scale and cottage industries releasing metals into the environment [5, 7¨C9]. Human exposure to arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury is primarily a result of inhalation of metal particles in air, ingestion of contaminated food or drinking water, or ingestion as a result of hand-to-mouth behavior [10¨C13]. Fetal exposure occurs when metals cross the placental barrier, and infants may also be exposed to arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury through breastfeeding. Significant inorganic arsenic exposure occurs through the consumption of drinking water as a result of geologically contaminated
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijpedi/2013/872596/