The Effect of Remediation of Chromium Waste Sites on Chromium Levels in Urine of Children Living in the Surrounding Neighborhood

Abstract

Exposure to chromium was assessed for 40 children living near chromium waste sites. Sampling was conducted in one Jersey City, New Jersey neighborhood during the summer and fall of 1991. Household dust samples from residences and urine samples from children living near chromium waste sites were collected and analyzed for chromium. During the summer and fall visits when the samples were collected, the children were also interviewed about lifestyle/activity patterns. Comparisons were made with similar samples collected from children and homes in other areas of New Jersey outside of Hudson County with no known chromium waste sites. Household dust masses and chromium loadings and concentrations in the dust showed a significant decline in this Hudson County neighborhood since the area was first sampled in 1990. Interim remediation of neighborhood sites and an active community education program in the interval between the first and second year of sampling may have contributed to the reduction in dust masses and chromium levels in dust. Children’s urine chromium concentrations were consistent across the two sampling periods despite reported changes in activity patterns. Chromium concentrations in urine were found to be age-dependent and related to home location. In this sample of Jersey City children less than six years old, time spent playing outdoors was a weak secondary contributor to urine chromium levels.