Insights into the health status of the general population living near an electroplating industry zone: metal elevations and renal impairment.

A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2016 in Zhejiang Province, China, to evaluate the body burdens of metals and metalloids associated with renal dysfunction in populations living near electroplating industries. We recruited 236 subjects and performed physical examinations, determined the blood and urinary levels of arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), antimony (Sb), and selenium (Se) by an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS), and measured three renal impairment biomarkers, namely nacetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase (NAG), retinol-binding protein (RBP), and β2-microglobulin (BMG). The proportion of abnormal nasal symptoms in the exposure group (10.1%) was much higher than in the control group (0; p < 0.05). The blood and urinary levels of As, Cd, and Se in the exposure group were significantly higher than those in the control group (p < 0.05). The blood levels of Mn and Pb, as well as the urinary levels of Cr and Ni, were significantly higher in the exposure group than in the control group (p < 0.05). The exposure group demonstrated higher levels of NAG, RBP, and BMG than the control group (0.51 vs. 0.14 mg/g creatinine, 12.79 vs. 9.26 IU/g creatinine, and 1.39 vs. 0.78 mg/g creatinine, respectively; p < 0.05). Urinary BMG was positively correlated with urinary Cd levels (r = 0.223, p < 0.05), while urinary RBP was correlated with blood Cd levels (r = 0.151, p < 0.05) and urinary Cd, Cr, Ni, and Se levels (r = 0.220, 0.303, 0.162, and 0.306, respectively; p < 0.05). In conclusion, our study indicated that a population living in the vicinity of electroplating industries had high body burdens of certain metals and metalloids associated with non-negligible renal dysfunction.