Risk Assessment of an Essential Element: Manganese

Manganese (Mn) is an essential element for humans, animals, and plants and is required for growth, development, and maintenance of health. Mn is present in most tissues of all living organisms and is present naturally in rocks, soil, water, and food. High-dose oral, parenteral, or inhalation exposures are associated with increased tissue Mn levels that may lead to development of adverse neurological, reproductive, or respiratory effects. Manganese-induced clinical neurotoxicity is associated with a motor dysfunction syndrome commonly referred to as manganism. Because Mn is an essential element and absorption and excretion are homeostatically regulated, a reasonable hypothesis is that there should be no adverse effects at low exposures. Therefore, there should be a threshold for exposure, below which adverse effects may occur only rarely, if at all, and the frequency of occurrence of adverse effects may increase with higher exposures above that threshold. Lowest-observed-adverse-effect levels (LOAELs), no-observed-adverse-effect levels (NOAELs), and benchmark dose levels (BMDs) have been derived from studies that were conducted to evaluate subclinical neurotoxicity in human occupational cohorts exposed to Mn. Although there is some uncertainty about the predictive value of the subclinical neuromotor or neurobehavioral effects that were observed in these occupational cohort studies, results of the neurological tests were used in risk assessments to establish guidelines and regulations for ambient air levels of Mn in the environment. A discussion of the uncertainties associated with these tests is provided in this review. The application of safety and uncertainty factors result in guidelines for ambient air levels that are lower than the LOAELs, NOAELs, or BMDs from occupational exposure studies by an order of magnitude, or more. Specific early biomarkers of effect, such as subclinical neurobehavioral or neurological changes or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) changes, have not been established or validated for Mn, although some studies attempted to correlate certain biomarkers with neurological effects. Pharmacokinetic studies with rodents and monkeys provide valuable information about the absorption, bioavailability, and tissue distribution of various Mn compounds with different solubilities and oxidation states in different age groups. These pharmacokinetic studies showed that rodents and primates maintain stable tissue Mn levels as a result of homeostatic mechanisms that tightly regulate absorption and excretion of ingested Mn and limit tissue uptake at low to moderate levels of inhalation exposure. In addition, physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) models are being developed to provide for the ability to conduct route-to-route extrapolations, evaluate nasal uptake to the central nervous system (CNS), and determine life-stage differences in Mn pharmacokinetics. Such models will facilitate more rigorous quantitative analysis of the available human pharmacokinetic data for Mn and will be used to identify situations that may lead to increased brain accumulation related to altered Mn kinetics in different human populations, and to develop quantitatively accurate predictions of elevated Mn levels that may serve as a basis of dosimetry-based risk assessments. Such dosimetry-based risk assessments will permit for the development of more scientifically refined and robust recommendations, guidelines, and regulations for Mn levels in the ambient environment and occupational settings.