Task 4 - Case analysis of a document

Presented to:
DANIEL MEJIA

Presented by:
LUISA FERNANDA SOTO
Code: 1121838304

Open and Distance National University

Environmental Epidemiology
Acacias, 2020
Answers to questions:

1. What is the cause or environmental problem generated according to the

article and where it is developed?
The article is based on environmental impact studies carried out in Dhaka City,
Bangladesh and chromium contamination caused by waster water in tannery
production. Where 7.7 million liters of liquid are waste daily by tanneries in the
Buriganga rivers and channels in Hazaribagh, which are used by residents in
domestic activities and putting their health at risk.

2. Which diseases can be presented by the handling of Cr according to the

article?
The World Health Organization (WHO) suggests 50 mg/L of Cr as the health-
based guideline value for drinking water (WHO, 2017). Chromium (Cr) generally
exists in the environment either as hexavalent Cr [Cr(VI)] or trivalent Cr [Cr(III)].
Cr(VI) has toxic, genotoxic, mutagenic and carcinogenic effects, causing negative
health problems such as skin lesions, ulceration and perforation of the nasal
septum, eardrum perforation, decreased spermatogenesis and lung carcinoma.
(Bharagava and Mishra, 2018; Mishra and Bharagava, 2016).

3. What is the effect of co-exposure to Cr (VI) and Cr (III)?

The article indicates that the Cr level is >2000times and >200 time than the As and
Ba level, for this reason the study was carried out on chromium contamination.
There has been no study showing the biological effects of coexposure to Cr(VI)
and Cr(III). Therefore, the biological effects of coexposure to the range of molar
ratios of Cr(VI) and Cr(III) in canal water at Hazaribagh were examined using
human non-tumorigenic skin keratinocytes. The colony formation assay
demonstrated for the first time that coexposure to Cr(VI) and Cr(III) synergistically
promoted transforming activity of HaCaT keratinocytes, which regulate
transforming activity (Thang et al., 2015a; Yajima et al., 2015), were synergistically
activated by coexposure to Cr(VI) and Cr(III). Synergistic promotion of
transforming activity by coexposure to 0.001 mM Cr(VI) and 1 mM Cr(III) and the
synergistic effects when low-toxicity Cr(III) was present in conjunction with high-
toxicity Cr(VI), both Cr(VI) and Cr(III) must be effectively removed.
Indicanting that residents was possibly exposed to molar ratios of Cr(VI):Cr(III)
ranging from 1:29 to 1:32782. Therefore, the effect of coexposure to Cr(VI) and
Cr(III) in that range of ratios on anchorage-independent growth of HaCaT
keratinocytes was examined. Unexpectedly, levels of anchorage-independent
growth were 2.5-fold and 2.3-fold increased by coexposure to 0.001 mM Cr(VI)
and 10 mM Cr(III) (Fig. 4A) and coexposure to 0.003 mM Cr(VI) and 1 mM Cr(III)
(Fig. 4B), respectively, compared to that of the nil control.

4. What is the conclusion of the study?

The study of molecular biology then showed that the carcinogenicity of Cr(VI) is
increased in the presence of Cr(III), suggesting the importance of removal of Cr(III)
in addition to Cr(VI) from water and that MFHT, a low-cost and high-efficacy
depurative, can be used for removal of both Cr(VI) and Cr(III).

5. Sustenance why this article is relevant for the environmental epidemiology

course.
The article allows the students of environmental engineering, to recognize and the
possibility to go into deep on the thematic to real cases of environmental impacts
and the process to develop reconnaissance studies and a possible mitigation
strategies from a scientific approach.
 Bibliography

Yoshinaga, M., Ninomiya, H., Al Hossain, M. M. A., Sudo, M., Akhand, A. A., Ahsan, N., … Kato, M.
(2018). A comprehensive study including monitoring, assessment of health effects and
development of a remediation method for chromium pollution. Chemosphere, 201, 667– 675.
Retrieved from https://bibliotecavirtual.unad.edu.co:2444/10.1016/j.chemosphe re.2018.03.026

Bharagava, R. N., & Mishra, S. (2018). Hexavalent chromium reduction potential of

Cellulosimicrobium sp. isolated from common effluent treatment plant of tannery
industries. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 147, 102-109. Retrieved from
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0147651317305365