Child Labour and Health Hazards: Chemical Exposure and Occupational Injuries in Nicaraguan Children Working in a Waste Disposal Site
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Child Labour and Health Hazards: Chemical Exposure and Occupational Injuries in Nicaraguan Children Working in a Waste Disposal Site Steven Cuadra Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine and Psychiatric Epidemiology, Department of Laboratory Medicine Lund University, Sweden Licentiate thesis Lund 2005 © Steven Cuadra Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine and Psychiatric Epidemiology, Department of Laboratory Medicine Lund University, Sweden University Hospital SE-221 85 Lund Sweden ISBN 91-631-7678-5 Cover photo by Danilo Hernández Printed in Sweden, by Media-Tryck, Lund University Lund 2005 2 A mi madre Gladys, la mayor prueba del amor de Dios en mi vida A Nestor, Mi hermano, mi compañero, mi mejor amigo 3 Y Sandino no era inteligente ni era culto pero salió inteligente de la montaña. “En la montaña todo enseña” decía Sandino (Soñando con las Segovias llenas de escuelas) (Ernesto Cardenal) And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:2) “Y si tengo el don de la palabra y estoy enterado de todos los misterios, y de todo el conocimiento, y si tengo la fe como para trasladar montañas, pero no tengo amor, nada soy” (1 Corintios 13:2) 4 Contents Contents.........................................................................................................5 Abbreviations..................................................................................................7 List of papers ..................................................................................................9 Introduction.................................................................................................10 Child labour in figures ..............................................................................10 Working at waste disposal sites..................................................................10 Health hazards in child workers at waste disposal site................................11 Chemical exposures ...............................................................................11 Heavy metals......................................................................................12 Persistent organochlorine pollutants (POPs) ......................................13 Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs)..........................................16 Injuries at the work place.......................................................................17 Aims of the thesis .........................................................................................18 Area description............................................................................................19 Managua waste disposal site ......................................................................19 Material and methods...................................................................................20 Study populations .....................................................................................20 Non-participants.......................................................................................21 Data collection..........................................................................................21 Interviews ..............................................................................................21 Background questionnaire (Paper I, II, III and IV) ............................21 Injury questionnaire (Paper IV)..........................................................22 Blood Sampling .....................................................................................22 Soil sampling .........................................................................................22 Chemical analysis......................................................................................23 Determination of metals (Pb, Hg, Cd, Se and Fe) in blood...................23 Determination of metals in soil..............................................................23 Determination of persistent organochlorine pollutants and PBDEs in serum.....................................................................................................23 Data analysis .............................................................................................26 Paper I...................................................................................................26 Paper II and III......................................................................................26 Paper IV ................................................................................................26 Injury risk estimation .........................................................................26 Classification of work related injuries (WRIs) ....................................27 Ethical approval ........................................................................................27 5 Results and comments ..................................................................................28 Paper I ......................................................................................................28 Blood levels of lead, mercury, cadmium, and selenium..........................28 Mercury and fish consumption from lake Xolotlán................................29 Investigating sources of lead contamination...........................................29 Paper II .....................................................................................................32 Exposure to persistent organochlorine pollutants (POPs) ......................32 Paper III....................................................................................................34 Exposure to PBDEs ...............................................................................34 Paper IV....................................................................................................36 Injury occurrence...................................................................................36 Injury classes (typology).........................................................................37 General discussion ........................................................................................38 Methodological issues ...............................................................................38 Selection ................................................................................................38 Selected subjects for POPs and PBDEs analysis..................................39 Non-participants ...................................................................................39 Information ...........................................................................................40 Chemical exposure – findings and implications.........................................40 The waste disposal site: a source of lead contamination .........................40 Organochlorine pesticides: Is there still an ongoing exposure to DDT/DDE?..........................................................................................41 Exposure to traditional POPs and emerging persistent organohalogen pollutants...............................................................................................42 The need for integrated risk assessment .................................................43 Injuries – findings and implications ..........................................................43 Concluding remarks and issues for further research and actions ...................45 Funding........................................................................................................46 Acknowledgements.......................................................................................47 Populärvetenskaplig sammanfattning............................................................51 Resumen en español .....................................................................................53 References.....................................................................................................57 6 Abbreviations 4-OH-CB Hydroxylated metabolites of polychlorinated biphenyls ANOVA Analysis of variance B-Cd Blood Cadmium BDE-100 2,2',4,4',6-pentaBDE BDE-153 2,2',4,4',5,5'-hexaBDE BDE-183 2,2',3,4,4',5',6-heptaBDE BDE-203 2,2',3,4,4',5,5',6-octaBDE BDE-209 2,2',3,3',4,4',5,5',6,6'-decaBDE BDE-47 2,2',4,4'-tetraBDE BDE-99 2,2',4,4',5-pentaBDE B-Fe Blood iron B-Hg Blood mercury BMI Body Mass Index B-Pb Blood lead B-Se Blood selenium CB 153 2,2',4,4',5,5'-hexachlorobiphenyl Cd Cadmium CDC Centers for Disease Control and Prevention DDD Dichloro-diphenyl-dichloro-ethane DDE Dichloro-diphenyl-dichloro-ethylene DDT Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloro-ethylene ECNI Electron capture chemical ionization ENTIA Child and Adolescents Labour Survey EPA Environmental Protection Agency f.w. Fresh weight Fe Iron g Gram GC-MS Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry HCB Hexachlorobenzene HCH Hexachlorocyclohexane Hg Mercury HPCs Halogenated phenolic compounds IC Interval confidence ICP-OES Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy ILO The International Labour Office 7 IPEC International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour IR Incidence rate kg Kilogram l Liter l.w. Lipid weight LOD Limit of detection LOQ Limit of quantification mg Milligram ng Nanogram NGO Non-governmental organization Non-WRI Non-Work related injury OH-PCB Hydroxylated PCB OR Odds ratio Pb Lead pbb part per billion PBDE Polybrominated diphenyl ethers PCB Polychlorinated biphenyls PCP Pentachlorophenol