Quantification of soil/dust (SD) on the hands of children from Hubei Province, China using hand wipes

• A method for measurement of soil/dust on children's hands was provided.
• Ce, Y, and V were suitable for using as tracer element of hand soil/dust.
• The daily ingestions of soil/dust from the hands of children were estimated.

A total of 120 children (58 males and 62 females) between the ages of 2 and 17 years were randomly selected from Wuhan City and Wufeng County in Hubei Province, China. We gathered hand SD samples from these children using hand wipes. We determined approximate amounts of hand SD and concentrations of three tracer soil elements (Ce, Y, V) in these samples. The approximate amounts of hand SD ranged from 6.35 to 85.42 mg with a median value of 20.62 mg. In addition, mean amounts of hand SD estimated using concentrations of Ce, Y, and V in samples were 1.07, 1.00, and 0.92 mg, respectively. The amounts of hand SD varied greatly among age groups: primary school children had more hand SD than kindergarten and middle school children, males had more hand SD than females, and children from rural areas had more hand SD than those from urban areas. The rates of daily ingestion of hand SD for kindergarten, primary school, and middle school children were estimated as 1.79, 2.12, and 0.49 mg/d, respectively.