Human uptake of environmental nanopollution

Abstract

Environmental exposure to inorganic contaminants, such as heavy metals and particulate matter, poses significant health risks, including systemic toxicity, oxidative stress, and chronic diseases.
Blood serves as a critical biomarker for assessing such exposures, as it reflects recent and cumulative contamination levels. However, conventional analytical techniques often lack the spatial resolution and elemental specificity required to detect and characterize trace inor-ganic pollutants efficiently.
In this study, we present a novel methodology with which we analyzed 12 blood sam-ples obtained by bloodletting and contaminated by inorganic pollutants. The analyses were carried out by means of a scanning electron microscope (SEM) coupled with an ener-gy-dispersive X-ray spectroscope (EDS). This approach enables high-resolution imaging and precise elemental mapping of particulate contaminants within blood samples, offering in-sights into their morphology, elemental composition, and potential sources. SEM-EDS, al-lowed us to overcome limitations of traditional analysis methods, providing a more detailed and accurate assessment of environmental pollutant interactions with biological systems.
Our findings demonstrate the efficacy of this technique in identifying and quantifying inorganic contaminants, paving the way for improved biomonitoring strategies and a deeper understanding of environmental health risks.