Assessment of Phosphatic Fertilizer Production Impact on Occupational Staff Based on NAA of Hair, Nails, and Inhald Particles

Abstract

Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) was performed for the determination of 25 elements in hair, toenails, and PM2.5 (particles smaller than 2.5 microm in aerodynamic diameter) to assess how human tissues of occupational staff and inhaled particles follow the industrial exposure of Gdansk Phosphatic fertilizer plant in Poland. Statistical analysis was used to elucidate this exposure. The results obtained were compared using box and whiskers plot and the parametric t-test and nonparametric Mann-Whitney U- test. The comparison showed a statistically significant difference between workers and control group concerning for example Br, Ca, Cl, La, Mn, Sm, U and V in hair, Cu, Dy, La, Sm, Ti and U in toenails and Al, As, Cl, I, K, La, Mg, Mn, Na, Sm and Zn in PM2.5 samples.