Manganese (Mn) is a heavy metal to which humans are exposed to at industrial and mining sites. Like other heavy metals such as cadmium, lead, and arsenic, Mn is known to accumulate in bones, hair, and nails. This work concerns development of a PBPK model in a vulnerable human population in Brescia province, Italy.
This particular Italian province historically has had three ferro-alloy production facilities, which caused generation of metallic dusts of a variety of heavy metals including Mn. Mn content was measured in a variety of food sources. The PBPK model aims to link dietary dose of Mn to measured biomarker levels of Mn in the exposed population. Inter-population variability based on age and genetic makeup is also an interesting focus area of this study.
The environmental concentrations of manganese in the study area have been analyzed in this paper: