Results of biomonitoring for trace elements in children of the mining region of Bashkortostan

The study of the trace elements status was carried out as a result of a multielement analysis of hair by ICP-MS within the framework of the Russian Humanitarian Science Foundation and the Government of the Republic of Bashkortostan research project №15-16-02003 «The impact of social and environmental factors on the health of the rural population Transural Region of the Republic of Bashkortostan”. This parameter is an index of the impact of the environment on the human organism. A total of 108 children aged 7–14 years, residing in the Transural Region of Bashkortostan under different environmental conditions, were examined. The children were divided into three groups: (1) residents of communities where there are large processing plants (Sibay and Buribay Khaybullinsky District); (2) living in the villages of the Baimak district, on the territory with abandoned quarries ores developed for a long time in the 20^th century; (3) living in an ecologically clean area — the village Starosubkhangulovo Burzyansky area near the Bashkir State Reserve. There are differences between the composition of trace elements in hair of children living in areas with different levels of the anthropogenic load. The lack of essential trace elements such as cobalt and chromium and an excess of zinc and manganese was common for all the studied groups of children. With an average grade of not exceeding the conditionally allowable biological level, some high values of the cadmium concentration of toxic elements, mercury, aluminum, and some essential trace elements are more common in children of technological areas. Children living in rural areas without anthropogenic pollution appear to be more susceptible to copper deficiency and iron. The data obtained can be used as reference values of the content of chemical elements in the hair of the child population of the mining districts of the Republic of Bashkortostan.