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Assessment of human exposure to copper: a case study using the NHEXAS database
Panos G Georgopoulos1, Sheng Wei Wang, Ioannis G Georgopoulos
1Exposure Measurement and Assessment Division, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute (EOHSI) (a Joint Institute of UMDNJ- Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Rutgers University), Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA. panosg@ccl.rutgers.edu
Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology
|October 27, 2005
Summary
Copper exposure from food is typically below the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA). Even with drinking water, total copper intake rarely exceeds recommended levels for most people, with inhalation playing a minor role.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Health Sciences
- Toxicology
- Exposure Science
Background:
- Copper is an essential trace element with potential adverse health effects at both low and high intake levels.
- Accurate exposure assessments are crucial for evaluating copper's impact on public health.
- Estimating total copper intake requires considering multiple exposure pathways.
Purpose of the Study:
- To apply a computational system for estimating total copper exposure in a general population.
- To identify the primary exposure pathways for copper ingestion and inhalation.
- To compare estimated copper doses with established dietary recommendations and tolerable intake levels.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a customized subset of the MENTOR/SHEDS-4M computational system.
- Employed data from the National Human Exposure Assessment Survey (NHEXAS) and other databases.
- Conducted a statistical population-based modeling case study for Eaton County, MI, across six age subgroups.
Main Results:
- Food intake was identified as the major pathway for total copper exposure.
- Drinking water contributed significantly only at the extreme upper end of the intake distribution.
- Over 80% of the population had estimated food copper doses below the Institute of Medicine's Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) of 900 microg/day.
- Combined food and water intake exceeded the RDA by approximately two times only for individuals in the top 1% of intake.
- Inhalation was a consistently minor contributor to total copper exposure.
Conclusions:
- The MENTOR/SHEDS-4M system effectively modeled copper exposure pathways.
- Most of the studied population had copper intake levels below or near recommended values, suggesting low risk from food and water.
- The findings underscore the importance of considering multiple exposure routes for comprehensive risk assessment.