Table 4.
Literature summary of biological monitoring studies reporting urinary metal levels in foundry workers. The production process and the analytical assay used to quantify metals in urine is also shown.
| Authors, Year Country | Production Process (Analytical Method) | N | V µg/L | Cr µg/L | Mn µg/L | Co µg/L | Ni µg/L | Cu µg/L | Zn µg/L | As µg/L | Cd µg/L | Ba µg/L | Tl µg/L | Pb µg/L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This Study, 2019 Tunisia | Electric steel foundry (ICP-MS) | 89 | 0.85 (0.05–2.40) a | 0.75 (0.18–5.51) a | 0.6 (0.1–4.1) a | 0.4 (0.1–1.9) a | 2.4 (0.5–6.3) a | 25 (5–54) a | 895 (137–3191) a | 29 (3–156) a (total As) | 1.43 (0.10–4.57) a | 3.5 (0.3–17.0) a | 0.4 (0.04–1.1) a | 5.0 (0.8–19.0) a |
| Apostoli et al., 1988 Italy [10] | Cast iron foundry cupola furnace (X-ray fluorescence spectrometry) | 21 | - | 0.33 (0.06–1.04) b | ||||||||||
| Horng et al., 2003 Taiwan [11] | Steel production plant (Differential pulse Stripping voltammetry) | 63 | - | - | - | 8.18 (3.06–23.30) b | 33.10 (13.90–78.90) b | - | - | - | 9.52 (3.19–22.07) b | - | - | 53.50 (28.90–85.60) b |
| Afridi et al., 2009 Pakistan [12] | Steel mill Production (GFAAS) | 56 | - | - | 2.49 ± 0.7 c | 3.56 ± 0.6 c | - | 530 ± 5 c mg/L | - | 7.9 ± 1.8 c | - | - | - | - |
| De Palma et al., 2012 Italy [8] | Electric steel foundry (ICP-MS and AAS) | 339 | - | 0.44 (0.06–1.80) a | - | - | 0.90 (0.10–3.39) a | - | - | 6.40 (0.50–16.08) a, (inorganic As) | 0.28 (0.13–0.83) a | - | - | - |
| Soleo et al., 2012 Italy [6] | Integrated-cycle steel foundry (ICP-MS and AAS) | 49 | - | 0.10 < 0.10–0.40) d | 0.40 (0.00–1.80) d | 0.50 (0.08–1.20) d | 0.60 (0.20–3.00) d | 16.0 (3.3–51.0) d | 352 (67.0–2626.0) d | 5.0 (0.5–75.0) d, (inorganic As) | 0.40 (<0.006–1.40) d | 2.60 (0.20–12.00) d | - | 1.50 (0.20–9.20) d |
| Ściskalska et al., 2014 Poland [9] | Copper foundry (AAS) | 352 | - | S a: 12.76 e*NS a:13.0 e* (inorganic As) | S a: 0.83 e*NSa: 0.56 e* | |||||||||
| dos Santos et al., 2015 Brasil [7] | Nonferrous metal foundries (GFAAS) | 178 | - | - | 0.64 (5.64) f | - | 1.8 (3.15) f | - | - | - | 1.27 (4.39)f | - | - | - |
| Wang et al., 2019 China [13] | Steel smelting plant (AAS) | 162 | - | - | - | - | 1.18 * (0.005–4.40) d | 6.44 * (0.0045–17.80) d | 0.93 * (0.17–3.15) d | 0.025 * (0.025–1.84) d |
N = number of samples; ICP-MS: Inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer; GF-AAS: Graphite furnace atomic absorption spectroscopy; S = smokers; NS = nonsmokers; a = median (5th–95th); b = mean (range); c = mean ± DS; d = median (range); e = mean; f = geometric mean (GSD); * µg/g creatinine.