Metal toxicity occupational monitoring

Employees are frequently monitored when working in an environment where exposure to toxic metals is a possibility. The most common form of monitoring involves quantification of airborne concentrations of metals in the production process. Threshold limit values for airborne concentrations and time-interval exposure concentrations are defined by the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to ensure worker safety. Workers may also be monitored by quantification of biological samples. The most common sample used is a random urine sample, and results are expressed in concentration units for the metal of interest per gram of creatinine to normalize for... 

People living in proximity to mining areas are often as vulnerable to Hg exposures as are those occupationally exposed to Hg. Therefore, Acosta-Saavedra et al. (2011) concluded that women and children in Mexico face Hg exposure risks for both geographical and socioeconomical conditions. For example, in a monitoring study of Hg and other toxic metals in children living in areas close to mine tailings in southern Mexico, it was found that urinary Hg was elevated (Moreno et al. 2010). The individuals of interest were 50 children whose age ranged from 6 to 11 years the results indicated that 30% of children had Hg levels above the reference value (0.7 pg L- ) for urine. 

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