Arsenic in residential soil and household dust in Cornwall, south west England: potential human exposure and the influence of historical mining

Middleton, Daniel R.S.; Watts, Michael J.; Beriro, Darren J.; Hamilton, Elliott M.; Leonardi, Giovanni S.; Fletcher, Tony; Close, Rebecca M.; Polya, David A.. 2017 Arsenic in residential soil and household dust in Cornwall, south west England: potential human exposure and the influence of historical mining. Environmental Science: processes & impacts, 19 (4). 517-527. https://doi.org/10.1039/C6EM00690F

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C6EM00690F

Abstract/Summary

Exposure to arsenic (As) via residential soil and dust is a global concern, in regions affected by mining or with elevated concentrations present in underlying geology. Cornwall in south west England is one such area. Residential soil (n = 127) and household dust (n = 99) samples were collected from across Cornwall as part of a wider study assessing exposure to environmental As. Samples were analysed for total As (soil and dust samples) and human ingestion bioaccessible As (soil samples from properties with home-grown produce). Arsenic concentrations ranged from 12 to 992 mg kg−1 in soil and 3 to 1079 mg kg−1 in dust and were significantly higher in areas affected by metalliferous mineralisation. Sixty-nine percent of soils exceeded the 37 mg kg−1 Category 4 Screening Level (C4SL), a generic assessment criteria for As in residential soils in England, which assumes 100% bioavailability following ingestion. The proportion of exceedance was reduced to 13% when the bioavailability parameter in the CLEA model was changed to generate household specific bioaccessibility adjusted assessment criteria (ACBIO). These criteria were derived using bioaccessibility data for a sub-set of individual household vegetable patch soils (n = 68). Proximity to former As mining locations was found to be a significant predictor of soil As concentration. This study highlights the value of bioaccessibility measurements and their potential for adjusting generic assessment criteria.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1039/C6EM00690F
ISSN:	2050-7887
Date made live:	06 Apr 2017 13:49 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/516813

Item Type:

Publication - Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

https://doi.org/10.1039/C6EM00690F

ISSN:

2050-7887

Date made live:

06 Apr 2017 13:49 +0 (UTC)

URI:

https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/516813