Exposure to Aluminum and the Prevalence of Anemia in Communities in Barcarena Pará, Brazil

Abstract

The city of Barcarena, a major industrial hub, is a city of high demand for mining industry and accidents that involved environmental contamination by heavy metals such as aluminum, subjecting the population to its harmful efFects. Socio-epidemiological data and results of toxicological and hematological tests of 124 individuals were analyzed. The statistical analysis adopting the significance level as p < 0.05. Epidemiological data indicate that the majority of the sample was female (71.1%), residents of more than 5 years in the region (90.6%), non-workers with heavy metals and/or mining (81.3%). In the dosage of metals in the blood, about 93.5% of the individuals exhibited aluminum intoxication, which due to the great variability found in the levels of aluminum exposure, the individuals were categorized into the following groups; medium-grade exposure, ranging from 5 ug/dL to 100 ug/dL, high level, more than 100 ug/dL and low detection limit exposure smaller than 5 ug/dL. In addition, the presence of anemia in the population was 64.5%, of which 65.2% were women and 62.5% were men. The relationship between the presence of anemia and high aluminum exposure in the blood was shown to mean (p-value 0.0347) as well as the decrease in hemoglobin and changes in hematimetric indices (p-value > 0.001). This study observed a significant association between aluminum contamination and the presence of anemia, reported that one of the indicators of the toxic action of aluminum on the hematopoietic system, with aluminum as an indicator of apparent hematological changes.