津巴布韦的大多数废物场不是卫生填埋场,而是随意接收市政当局废物的露天垃圾场,工业,商业机构,和社会服务机构。人民,包括孩子,通过清理垃圾场谋生的人,通过无意中摄入和吸入污染的灰尘,将自己暴露在垃圾场的环境污染物中,和皮肤吸收。公众可能会通过空气接触到大量污染物,水,和食物,所有这些都受到不受控制的渗滤液和空气沉积的灰尘和颗粒的污染。全球化的不幸后果之一是分担受污染的食物和相关的疾病负担;因此,区域污染可能会产生全球影响。我们分析了津巴布韦两个废物场的铅水平,以评估清除这些废物场的儿童和成人每日铅的暴露水平,并确定可能污染空气的重金属水平,水,土壤,和食物在乡下。其中一个地点的铅水平为23,000至14,600,000µg/kg,另一个地点为30,000至1,800,000µg/kg。通过假设每天无意摄入20-500毫克土壤/灰尘来计算的无意的每日暴露量大多高于世界卫生组织为婴儿确定的临时可容忍每日摄入量,孩子们,和成年人。XRF测量使用认证的参考样品进行验证,2710a(蒙大拿州土壤)和2781(家庭污泥),来自国家标准与技术研究所。
Most waste sites in Zimbabwe are not sanitary landfills but open dumps that indiscriminately receive waste from municipalities, industries, commercial establishments, and social services establishments. People, including children, who eke out a living through scavenging the dumps expose themselves to environmental pollutants at the dumps via inadvertent ingestion and inhalation of contaminated dust, and dermal absorption. The public is potentially being exposed to a slew of the pollutants via air, water, and food, all contaminated by uncontrolled leachates and aerially deposited dust and particulates from the sites. One of the unfortunate consequences of globalization is the sharing of contaminated food and the associated disease burdens; hence, regional contamination can have global impacts. We analyzed the levels of lead at two waste sites in Zimbabwe to assess the daily exposure levels of Pb to children and adults who scavenge the sites as well as determine levels of the heavy metal that are potentially contaminating air, water, soils, and food in the country. Levels of Pb ranged from 23,000 to 14,600,000 µg/kg at one of the sites and from 30,000 to 1,800,000 µg/kg at the other. Inadvertent daily exposure amounts that were calculated by assuming an inadvertent daily ingestion of 20-500 mg of soil/dust were mostly higher than the provisional tolerable daily intake established by the World Health Organization for infants, children, and adults. The XRF measurements were validated using certified reference samples, 2710a (Montana soil) and 2781 (domestic sludge), from the National Institute of Standards and Technology.