House dust and inorganic urinary arsenic in two Arizona mining towns

Abstract

Residents of copper mining and smelting towns may have increased risk of arsenic exposure from elevated arsenic contained in environmental media. To determine the relationship of arsenic in house dust to inorganic urinary arsenic concentrations, a door to-door survey was conducted in Hayden and Winkelman, Arizona. A total of 122 households (404 individuals) participated; eighty-five provided dust samples. Urine was collected at first morning void and analyzed for total and speciated arsenic. Speciation of arsenic was performed in samples with total arsenic above 10μg/L (N = 106). The generalized estimating equation was used to determine the relationship between urinary and house dust arsenic concentrations, allowing adjustment for the correlation of measurements obtained from the same home. Seafood consumption during the past three days and smoking contributed significantly to inorganic urinary arsenic, after adjusting for age and gender. Arsenic in house dust was not significantly associated with inorganic urinary arsenic measurements in this population.