Contribution of soil, water and food consumption to metal exposure of children from geological enriched environments in the coastal zone of Lake Victoria, Kenya

Geologically enriched environments may contain high concentrations of some metals. In areas where industrial exposures remain superficial, children may be exposed to these geological metals through soil, drinking water and consumption of food locally grown. The aim of this study was to assess the contribution of soil, water and food consumption to cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), cobalt (Co) and titanium (Ti) body burden of children in the geologically metal rich coastal zone of Lake Victoria, Kenya. We evaluated the relationship between the metal body burden of children by analyzing the hair samples and the estimated metal intake through exposure to soil, drinking water, and food consumption. The body burdens of all metals in children at the exposed sites were high, suggesting environmental exposure. Most of the foods consumed resulted in metal intake below the maximum recommended daily intake. However, the net contribution of all food items jointly exceeded the recommended maximum daily intake at some of the exposure sites. Our results further demonstrated that the highest intake of metals occurred via ingestion of high quantities of the cyprinid fish Rastrineobola argentea. Positive linear relationships between the metal body burden in children and estimated daily intake were observed for Cd, Cr, Ti in children consuming high quantity of R. argentea; for Zn and Co in children highly exposed to soils and consuming high quantity of Brassica oleraceae, while Co burden in the body was associated with high consumption of maize meal. This study demonstrated that exposure to soil and consumption of higher quantities of some foods contributed to the increased metal body burdens of children in a geologically exposed region.