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Relationship between distance to boron mine and exposure in cattle

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This study measured boron by ICP-OES in serum, urine, drinking water and locally grown feed for 60 cattle living at three distances from a boron mine in western Turkey. Drinking-water boron was markedly higher within 5 km of the mine, and serum boron also differed by distance. Urine and feed showed higher values near the mine but differences were not statistically significant.

Key numbers

  • Drinking water, median (range): 0 to 5 km 1285 µg/L (47.2 to 6049); 5 to 15 km 93.20 µg/L (66.1 to 1466); 15 to 30 km 73.75 µg/L (53.4 to 1299); P < 0.001 (Table 4, p. 6).
  • Serum, median (range): 0.54 µg/L (0.23 to 1.27), 0.37 µg/L (0.07 to 0.49) and 0.45 µg/L (0.16 to 0.84) by increasing distance; P = 0.007 (Table 4, p. 6).
  • Urine, median: 10452.5, 3319.5 and 4929 µg/L by increasing distance; P = 0.068 (Table 4, p. 6).
  • Feed digests, median: 642.55, 260.45 and 155.55 µg/L by increasing distance; P = 0.050. Feed is reported per liter of digest, and some values are negative (Table 4, p. 6).
  • All samples: drinking water mean 887.49 ± 1551.84 µg/L (47.20 to 6049.00); serum mean 0.45 ± 0.27 µg/L (Table 3, p. 6).
  • LOD: 12.5669 µg/L water, 5.3050 µg/L serum, 20.6567 µg/L urine, 57.8052 µg/L feed; LOQ 41.8897, 17.6834, 68.8556 and 192.6843 µg/L respectively (p. 4).

Methods (brief)

Serum, urine, water and feed (dried, ground, 200 mg) were acid-digested with nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide and analyzed by ICP-OES (PerkinElmer 7300 DV). Calibration used 50 to 500 ppb standards; recoveries are reported in Table 2. Group differences were tested with Kruskal-Wallis tests.

Evidence fitness

Supports the existence of a mine-proximity gradient in livestock drinking-water boron. It does not support human exposure estimates or food (meat or milk) concentrations, and feed results cannot be converted to a per-mass basis.

Limitations

Feed concentrations are reported in µg/L of digest with negative minima, and every reported serum value (0.07 to 1.27 µg/L) is below the stated serum LOD of 5.3050 µg/L, so serum and feed values are of uncertain reliability. One species and one mine only. No competing interests were declared.

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