Barbieri Flavia auteur aut IRD Cournil Amandine auteur aut IRD Sarkis J. E. S. auteur aut IRD Bénéfice Eric auteur aut IRD Gardon Jacques auteur aut IRD text journalArticle eng text/pdf born digital access Severe polymetallic contamination is frequently observed in the mining communities of Bolivian Altiplano. We evaluated hair trace elements concentrations at the population level to characterise exposure profile in different contexts of contact with mining and metallurgical pollution. We sampled 242 children aged 7 to 12 years in schools from five Oruro districts located in different contexts of potential contamination. Hair trace elements concentrations were measured using ICP-MS (Pb, As, Hg, Cd, Sb, Sn, Bi, Ag, Ni, Se, Cu, Cr, Mn, Co and Zn). We compared concentration according to school areas and gender. Concentrations were markedly different depending on school areas. Children from schools near industrial areas were far more exposed to non essential elements than children from downtown and suburban schools, as well as the rural school. The most concentrated non-essential element was Pb (geometric means (SD): 1.6 (1.3) mu g/g in rural school; 2.0 (2.3) mu g/g in suburban school; 2.3 (3.0) mu g/g in downtown school; 14.1 (2.7) mu g/g in the mine school and 21.2 (3.3) mu g/g in the smelter school). Boys showed higher levels for all non-essential elements while girls had higher levels of Zn. Hair trace elements concentrations highlighted the heterogeneity of exposure profiles, identifying the most contaminated districts. specialized ICP-MS Principal components Bolivian mining city Polymetallic mining waste Human population Biomarker 050 020 139 1 10-23 2011 0163-4984 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010053114 10.1007/s12011-010-8641-1 0163-4984 [F B010053114] https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010053114 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/intranet/publi/2011/03/010053114.pdf Accès réservé (Intranet de l'IRD) IRD - Base Horizon / Pleins textes 2011-04-07 2025-02-27 fdi:010053114 fre