Density and proximity of oil and gas wells and concentrations of trace elements in urine, hair, nails and tap water samples from pregnant individuals living in Northeastern British Columbia.

Biomonitoring Oil and gas Pregnant individuals Tap water Trace elements

Journal

Environment international
ISSN: 1873-6750
Titre abrégé: Environ Int
Pays: Netherlands
ID NLM: 7807270

Informations de publication

Date de publication:
22 Dec 2023
Historique:
received: 14 09 2023
revised: 15 12 2023
accepted: 18 12 2023
medline: 19 1 2024
pubmed: 19 1 2024
entrez: 18 1 2024
Statut: aheadofprint

Résumé

Oil and gas exploitation can release several contaminants in the environment, including trace elements, with potentially deleterious effects on exposed pregnant individuals and their developing fetus. Currently, there is limited data on pregnant individuals' exposure to contaminants associated with oil and gas activity. We aimed to 1)measure concentrations of trace elements in biological and tap water samples collected from pregnant individuals participating in the EXPERIVA study; 2)compare with reference populations and health-based guidance values; 3)assess correlations across matrices; and 4)evaluate associations with the density/proximity of oil and gas wells. We collected tap water, hair, nails, and repeated urine samples from 85pregnant individuals, and measured concentrations of 21trace elements. We calculated oil and gas well density/proximity (Inverse Distance Weighting [IDW]) for 4buffer sizes (2.5 km, 5 km, 10 km, no buffer). We performed Spearman's rank correlation analyses to assess the correlations across elements and matrices. We used multiple linear regression models to evaluate the associations between IDWs and concentrations. Some study participants had urinary trace element concentrations exceeding the 95th percentile of reference values; 75% of participants for V, 29% for Co, 22% for Ba, and 20% for Mn. For a given trace element, correlation coefficients ranged from -0.23 to 0.65 across matrices; correlations with tap water concentrations were strongest for hair, followed by nails, and urine. Positive (e.g., Cu, Cr, Sr, U, Ga, Ba, Al, Cd) and negative (e.g., Fe) associations were observed between IDW metrics and the concentrations of certain trace elements in water, hair, and nails. Our results suggest that pregnant individuals living in an area of oil and gas activity may be more exposed to certain trace elements (e.g., Mn, Sr, Co, Ba) than the general population. Association with density/proximity of wells remains unclear.

Sections du résumé

BACKGROUND BACKGROUND
Oil and gas exploitation can release several contaminants in the environment, including trace elements, with potentially deleterious effects on exposed pregnant individuals and their developing fetus. Currently, there is limited data on pregnant individuals' exposure to contaminants associated with oil and gas activity.
OBJECTIVES OBJECTIVE
We aimed to 1)measure concentrations of trace elements in biological and tap water samples collected from pregnant individuals participating in the EXPERIVA study; 2)compare with reference populations and health-based guidance values; 3)assess correlations across matrices; and 4)evaluate associations with the density/proximity of oil and gas wells.
METHODS METHODS
We collected tap water, hair, nails, and repeated urine samples from 85pregnant individuals, and measured concentrations of 21trace elements. We calculated oil and gas well density/proximity (Inverse Distance Weighting [IDW]) for 4buffer sizes (2.5 km, 5 km, 10 km, no buffer). We performed Spearman's rank correlation analyses to assess the correlations across elements and matrices. We used multiple linear regression models to evaluate the associations between IDWs and concentrations.
RESULTS RESULTS
Some study participants had urinary trace element concentrations exceeding the 95th percentile of reference values; 75% of participants for V, 29% for Co, 22% for Ba, and 20% for Mn. For a given trace element, correlation coefficients ranged from -0.23 to 0.65 across matrices; correlations with tap water concentrations were strongest for hair, followed by nails, and urine. Positive (e.g., Cu, Cr, Sr, U, Ga, Ba, Al, Cd) and negative (e.g., Fe) associations were observed between IDW metrics and the concentrations of certain trace elements in water, hair, and nails.
SIGNIFICANCE CONCLUSIONS
Our results suggest that pregnant individuals living in an area of oil and gas activity may be more exposed to certain trace elements (e.g., Mn, Sr, Co, Ba) than the general population. Association with density/proximity of wells remains unclear.

Identifiants

DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2023.108398 PMID: 38237504
pubmed: 38237504
pii: S0160-4120(23)00671-2
doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2023.108398
pii:
doi:

Types de publication

Journal Article

Langues

eng

Sous-ensembles de citation

IM

Pagination

108398

Informations de copyright

Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Auteurs

Lilit Gasparyan (L)

Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada; Centre de recherche en santé publique, Université de Montréal et CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l'Île-de-Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada.

Juliette Duc (J)

Centre de recherche en santé publique, Université de Montréal et CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l'Île-de-Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada; Department of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, School of Public Health, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada.

Lucie Claustre (L)

Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada; Centre de recherche en santé publique, Université de Montréal et CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l'Île-de-Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada.

Delphine Bosson-Rieutort (D)

Centre de recherche en santé publique, Université de Montréal et CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l'Île-de-Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada; Department of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, School of Public Health, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada.

Michèle Bouchard (M)

Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada; Centre de recherche en santé publique, Université de Montréal et CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l'Île-de-Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada.

Maryse F Bouchard (MF)

Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada; Institut national de la recherche scientifique, Laval, QC, Canada; Sainte-Justine Hospital Research Center, Montreal, QC, Canada.

Naomi Owens-Beek (N)

Saulteau First Nations, BC, Canada.
West Moberly First Nations, BC, Canada.

Élyse Caron-Beaudoin (É)

Department of Health and Society, Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto, ON, Canada; Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Evaluation, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Marc-André Verner (MA)

Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada; Centre de recherche en santé publique, Université de Montréal et CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l'Île-de-Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada. Electronic address: marc-andre.verner.1@umontreal.ca.

Classifications MeSH