Oral bioaccessibility of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in urban dusts of Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, Nigeria

A literature survey has shown that no study has investigated the oral bioaccessibility of PTEs in Nigeria dusts. Studies on human health risk of PTEs from urban Nigeria dust have been based only on total elemental concentrations. Whilst this protocol is useful in assessing human health of PTEs, it could lead to an over estimation of the risk considering the elemental sequestration in the dust samples. This study deviated from previous studies by examining the total concentrations as well as the oral bioaccessibility of 8 PTEs in 15 urban dust samples collected from Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, Nigeria. The result showed that high concentrations of Pb (ranging from 236 – 1815 mg/kg) were observed in 5 locations. The Unified Bioaccessibility Method (UBM) was used to investigate the oral bioaccessibility of these PTEs in the urban dust samples. The result revealed that all the PTEs were more bioaccessible in the gastric phase that the gastric + intestinal phase. The lead tolerable daily intake (TDI), as well as the bioaccessible TDI, was computed and results compared with a guideline value.