Please cite this article in press as: Oyoo-Okoth, E., et al., Contribution of soil, water and food consumption to metal exposure of children from geological enriched environments in the coastal zone of Lake Victoria, Kenya. Int. J. Hyg. Environ. Health (2012), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheh.2012.05.004 ARTICLE IN PRESS G Model IJHEH 12601 1–9 International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health xxx (2012) xxx–xxx Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health j o ur nal homepage: www.elsevier.de/ijheh Contribution of soil, water and food consumption to metal exposure of children from geological enriched environments in the coastal zone of Lake Victoria, Kenya 1 2 Elijah Oyoo-Okoth a,b,∗ , Wim Admiraal b , Odipo Osano a , David Manguya-Lusega c , Veronica Ngure d , Q1 Michiel H.S. Kraak b , Victoria Chepkirui-Boit c , Judith Makwali e 3 4 a Division of Environmental Health, School of Environmental Studies, Chepkoilel University College, P.O. Box 1125, Eldoret, Kenya 5 b Department of Aquatic Ecology and Ecotoxicology, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 XH, The Netherlands 6 c Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Chepkoilel University College, P.O. Box 1125, Eldoret, Kenya 7 d Department of Wildlife Management, Chepkoilel University College, P.O. Box 1125, Eldoret, Kenya 8 e Department of Biological Sciences, Chepkoilel University College, P.O. Box 1125, Eldoret, Kenya 9 10 a r t i c l e i n f o 11 12 Article history: 13 Received 14 May 2011 14 Received in revised form 4 May 2012 15 Accepted 11 May 2012 16 17 Keywords: 18 Food consumption 19 Geological environment 20 Human hair 21 Lake Victoria 22 Metal intake 23 a b s t r a c t Geologically enriched environments may contain high concentrations of some metals. In areas where industrial exposures remain superficial, children may be exposed to these geological metals through soil, drinking water and consumption of food locally grown. The aim of this study was to assess the contribu- tion of soil, water and food consumption to cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), cobalt (Co) and titanium (Ti) body burden of children in the geologically metal rich coastal zone of Lake Victoria, Kenya. We evaluated the relationship between the metal body burden of children by analyzing the hair samples and the estimated metal intake through exposure to soil, drinking water, and food consumption. The body burdens of all metals in children at the exposed sites were high, suggesting environmental exposure. Most of the foods consumed resulted in metal intake below the maximum recommended daily intake. However, the net contribution of all food items jointly exceeded the recommended maximum daily intake at some of the exposure sites. Our results further demonstrated that the highest intake of metals occurred via ingestion of high quantities of the cyprinid fish Rastrineobola argentea. Positive linear relationships between the metal body burden in children and estimated daily intake were observed for Cd, Cr, Ti in children consuming high quantity of R. argentea; for Zn and Co in children highly exposed to soils and consuming high quantity of Brassica oleraceae, while Co burden in the body was associated with high consumption of maize meal. This study demonstrated that exposure to soil and consumption of higher quantities of some foods contributed to the increased metal body burdens of children in a geologically exposed region. © 2012 Published by Elsevier GmbH. Introduction 24 Human exposure to metals such as cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), 25 chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), cobalt (Co) and titanium (Ti), 26 are well documented (e.g. Dipietro et al., 1989; Nriagu, 1996; Luoma 27 and Rainbow, 2008; Tian et al., 2011). Non-essential metals such as 28 Pb, Cd and Cr can elicit toxic effects even at low exposure doses. Also 29 for Ti, no essential metabolic role has yet been described (Kanztzis, 30 1981). On the other hand, Cu is an essential metal and a component 31 of various enzymes, is involved in collagen synthesis and in the nor- 32 mal development of connective tissues, nerves and immune system 33 (Amaral et al., 2008). Also Zn and Co are essential and are involved in 34 ∗ Corresponding author at: Division of Environmental Health, School of Envi- Q2 ronmental Studies, Chepkoilel University College, P.O. Box 1125, Eldoret, Kenya. Tel.: +254 720222082. E-mail address: elijaoyoo2009@gmail.com (E. Oyoo-Okoth). multiple functions such as enzymes structure and activities, protein 35 transport, hormonal functions and specific receptor sites, which 36 are crucial for the well functioning of biological systems (Apostoli, 37 2002). Whether metals are classified as essential or non-essential, 38 they can be toxic at acute high exposure levels (Cai et al., 2005; 39 Waalkes, 2003; Amaral et al., 2008). Moreover, increasing evidence 40 also points to negative health effects from cumulative, lower level 41 of exposures to some metals (Hu, 2002; Quandt et al., 2010). Chil- 42 dren are more vulnerable to metal exposures, which may lead to 43 several pediatrics effects including neurodevelopment disorders. 44 Ingestion of metals by children may occur through consumption of 45 water, soil and food from a metal rich environment (Moreno et al., 46 2010). 47 The Lake Victoria basin in Kenya is volcanic in nature and 48 contains rich deposits of metals from geological origin (Ogola 49 et al., 2002; Kenya Geological Survey, 2008). Compounding the 50 problem of metal pollution in the region is the continuous oper- 51 ation of small scale and artisanal gold miners over the last 52 1438-4639/$ – see front matter © 2012 Published by Elsevier GmbH. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheh.2012.05.004