Boys working in surgical instrument workshops in Sialkot had urinary chromium about 35 times that of schoolboys from the same city, above the adult occupational biological exposure index cited by the authors. Oxidative DNA damage marker levels did not differ significantly between groups but correlated with urinary nickel.
Key numbers
- Urinary chromium, geometric mean (25th to 75th percentile): working children 23.0 µg/L (8.38 to 58.6), n = 102; schoolchildren 0.66 µg/L (0.38 to 1.09), n = 75 (Table 2, p. 1471).
- Creatinine-adjusted: 30.1 µg/g creatinine (12.3 to 78.2), n = 94, versus 0.66 µg/g creatinine (0.40 to 0.82), n = 74 (Table 3, p. 1471).
- Occupational biological exposure index for adult workers cited as 25 µg/L (abstract, p. 1469).
- One raw surgical instrument contained 12.5% chromium (Results, p. 1471).
Methods (brief)
Cross-sectional study; spot urine analyzed for 20 metals by ICP-MS (Agilent 7500ce) in Belgium; urinary 8-OHdG by ELISA; questionnaire, spirometry and blood pressure.
Evidence fitness
Supports high occupational chromium exposure in child metalworkers. It does not concern food or identify chromium species.
Limitations
Convenience sample; single spot urine; urinary chromium does not separate species; workplaces were not sampled.
Related evidence
Update history
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