Children who live near coal-fired power plants are exposed to coal fly ash, which is stored in landfills and surface impoundments near residential communities. Fly ash has the potential to be released as fugitive dust. Using data collected from 263 children living within 10 miles of coal ash storage facilities in Jefferson and Bullitt Counties, Kentucky, USA, we quantified the elements found in nail samples. Furthermore, using principal component analysis (PCA), we investigated whether metal(loid)s that are predominately found in fly ash loaded together to indicate potential exposure to fly ash. Concentrations of several neurotoxic metal(loid)s, such as chromium, manganese, and zinc, were higher than concentrations reported in other studies of both healthy and environmentally exposed children. From PCA, it was determined that iron, aluminum, and silicon in fly ash were found to load together in the nails of children living near coal ash storage facilities. These metal(loid)s were also highly correlated with each other. Last, results of geospatial analyses partially validated our hypothesis that children’s proximity to power plants was associated with elevated levels of concentrations of fly ash metal(loid)s in nails. Taken together, nail samples may be a powerful tool in detecting exposure to fly ash.

中文翻译：

---

居住在煤灰储存设施附近的儿童的指甲样本表明，飞灰暴露和金属（类）浓度升高

居住在燃煤发电厂附近的儿童会接触到储存在居民社区附近的垃圾填埋场和地表蓄水池中的煤飞灰。飞灰有可能作为扬尘释放。我们利用从美国肯塔基州杰斐逊县和布利特县煤灰储存设施 10 英里范围内居住的 263 名儿童收集的数据，对指甲样本中发现的元素进行了量化。此外，使用主成分分析（PCA），我们研究了飞灰中主要存在的金属（类）是否负载在一起以表明潜在的飞灰暴露。铬、锰和锌等几种神经毒性金属（类）的浓度高于其他针对健康儿童和环境暴露儿童的研究报告的浓度。根据 PCA，发现飞灰中的铁、铝和硅一起沉积在居住在煤灰储存设施附近的儿童的指甲中。这些金属（类）也彼此高度相关。最后，地理空间分析的结果部分验证了我们的假设，即儿童靠近发电厂与指甲中飞灰金属（类）浓度升高有关。总而言之，指甲样本可能是检测飞灰暴露情况的有力工具。