Coupling bioavailability and stable isotope ratio to discern dietary and non-dietary contribution of metal exposure to residents in mining-impacted areas

Abstract Both dietary and non-dietary pathways contribute to metal exposure in residents living near mining-impacted areas. In this study, bioavailability-based metal intake estimation coupled with stable Pb isotope ratio fingerprinting technique were used to discern dietary (i.e., rice consumption) and non-dietary (i.e., housedust ingestion) contribution to As, Cd, and Pb exposure in residents living near mining-impacted areas. Results showed that not only rice (n = 44; 0.10–0.56, 0.01–1.77, and 0.03–0.88 mg kg −1 ) but also housedust (n = 44; 2.15–2380, 2.55–329, and 87.0–56,184 mg kg −1 ) were contaminated with As, Cd, and Pb. Based on in vivo mouse bioassays, bioavailability of As, Cd, and Pb in rice (n = 11; 34 ± 15, 59 ± 13, and 31 ± 15%) were greater than housedust (n = 14; 17 ± 6.7, 46 ± 10, and 25 ± 6.8%). Estimated daily intake of As, Cd, and Pb after incorporating metal bioavailability showed that As intake via rice was 5-fold higher than housedust for adults, whereas As intake via housedust was 3-fold higher than rice for children. For both adults and children, rice was the main source for Cd exposure, while housedust was the predominant Pb contributor. To ascertain the dominant Pb source from housedust ingestion, stable Pb isotope ratios ( 207 Pb/ 206 Pb and 208 Pb/ 206 Pb) of hair samples of local residents (n = 27, 0.8481 ± 0.0049 and 2.0904 ± 0.0102) were compared to housedust (n = 27, 0.8485 ± 0.0047 and 2.0885 ± 0.0107) and rice (n = 27, 0.8369 ± 0.0057 and 2.0521 ± 0.0119), showing an overlap between hair and housedust, but not rice, confirming that incidental housedust ingestion was the main source of Pb exposure. This study coupled bioavailability and stable isotope techniques to accurately identify the source of metal exposure as well as their potential health risk.