Analiz Riska Zdorovʹû (Dec 2018)
Risk of health disorders in children casued by consumption of contaminated food products
Abstract
Prevalence of diseases related to chemical contamination of the environment, including food products, among various population group is still a vital issue. A child's body is the most sensitive to influences exerted by environmental contamination; deficiency of nutrients in a ration leads to a drastic increase in a risk of ecology-related health disorders. Our research goal was to hygienically assess safety of teenagers' and children's nutrition in Orenburg, taken in dynamics over 2007–2015, within risk assessment frameworks. Nutrition safety was assessed as per various food products groups. First of all, we focused on chemical contaminants; the priority ones that were identified included nitrates, heavy metals (lead, cadmium, mercury, arsenic, and copper), pesticides, chloramphenicol, and histamine. Laboratory analysis revealed the most contaminated products that included meat and meat products, milk and dairy products, fish and fish products, vegetative and animal oil. Dynamics taken over a long-term period allowed us to detect that a major contribution into a risk caused by chemical contamination was made by nitrates, mercury, cadmium, and arsenic. We determined non-carcinogenic hazards related to food products provided for nutrition in schools and pre-school children facilities; the first place belonged to impacts on the cardiovascular system, HIcvs=4.99; the second rank place was taken by impacts on the hormonal system, HIhorm=4.56; the third place belonged to impacts on the CNS, HIcns=3.2. Impacts on blood followed (HIblood=3.18); they were followed by impacts on the immune system (HIimmune=2.99), nervous system (HInerv=2.28), and kidneys (HIkidneys=2.28). When we assessed non-carcinogenic hazard indexes for nutrition outside children and teenagers facilities, we detected risks for the hormonal system (HIhorm=2.8); CNS (HIcns=2.0); kidneys (HIkidneys=1.63); immune system (HIimmune=1.58); reproductive system (HIrepr =1.24); and the nervous system (HInerv=1.17). Total non-carcinogenic risk for critical organs and systems was assessed as "high" for the hormonal system (HI=7.4), CNS (HI=5.2), and the cardiovascular system (HI=5.8). Average non-carcinogenic risk was detected for the immune system (HI=4.6) and the nervous system (HI=3.5), for kidneys (HI=3.9) and blood (HI=3.6). We detected changes in the microelement state of children and teenagers that were characterized with some parameters being higher than an average level in the country, namely as per lead contents (by 56 %), cadmium contents (by 87 %), mercury contents (by 30 %), and arsenic contents (by 23 %).
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