Abstract：
Non-ferrous metal smelting poses significant risks to public health. Specifically, the copper smelting process releases arsenic, a semi-volatile metalloid, which poses an emerging exposure risk to both workers and nearby residents. To comprehensively understand the internal exposure risks of metal(loid)s from copper smelting, we explored eighteen metal(loid)s and arsenic metabolites in the urine of both occupational and non-occupational populations using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry with high-performance liquid chromatography and compared their health risks. Results showed that zinc and copper (485.38 and 14.00 µg/L), and arsenic, lead, cadmium, vanadium, tin and antimony (46.80, 6.82, 2.17, 0.40, 0.44 and 0.23 µg/L, respectively) in workers (n=179) were significantly higher compared to controls (n=168), while Zinc, tin and antimony (412.10, 0.51 and 0.15 µg/L, respectively) of residents were significantly higher than controls. Additionally, workers had a higher monomethyl arsenic percentage (MMA%), showing lower arsenic methylation capacity. Source appointment analysis identified arsenic, lead, cadmium, antimony, tin and thallium as co-exposure metal(loid)s from copper smelting, positively relating to the age of workers. The hazard index (HI) of workers exceeded 1.0, while residents and control were approximately at 1.0. Besides, all three populations had accumulated cancer risks exceeding 1.0 × 10-4, and arsenite (AsIII) was the main contributor to the variation of workers and residents. Furthermore, residents living closer to the smelting plant had higher health risks. This study reveals arsenic exposure metabolites and multiple metals as emerging contaminants for copper smelting exposure populations, providing valuable insights for pollution control in non-ferrous metal smelting.
摘要：
有色金属冶炼对公众健康构成重大风险。具体来说,铜冶炼过程会释放砷，一种半挥发性准金属，这给工人和附近居民带来了新的暴露风险。为全面了解铜冶炼金属(类)的内部暴露风险，我们使用电感耦合等离子体质谱法和高效液相色谱法研究了职业和非职业人群尿液中的18种金属(类)和砷代谢物，并比较了它们的健康风险。结果表明，锌和铜（485.38和14.00µg/L），还有砷,铅,镉,钒，锡和锑(46.80、6.82、2.17、0.40、0.44和0.23µg/L，分别)在工人(n=179)中显著高于对照组(n=168)，而锌，锡和锑(412.10、0.51和0.15µg/L，分别)的居民显著高于对照组。此外,工人的单甲基砷百分比(MMA%)较高，显示较低的砷甲基化能力。来源预约分析确定了砷，铅,镉,锑,锡和铊作为铜冶炼中的共同暴露金属(类)，与工人的年龄呈正相关。工人的危害指数（HI）超过1.0，而居民和对照组约为1.0。此外,所有三个人群的累积癌症风险均超过1.0×10-4,亚砷酸盐(AsIII)是工人和居民差异的主要原因.此外，居住在冶炼厂附近的居民有更高的健康风险。这项研究揭示了砷暴露代谢物和多种金属作为铜冶炼暴露人群的新兴污染物，为有色金属冶炼污染控制提供有价值的见解。
