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Alterações de linguagem em crianças cronicamente expostas a vulcanismo ativo – ilha de São Miguel (Açores)
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Abstract(s)
O domínio da linguagem apresenta-se como um dos elementos essenciais para a sobrevivência na atualidade e compromete a plena integração dos cidadãos na vida social. Sabe-se que o desenvolvimento da linguagem ocorre devido à conformidade de várias vertentes, nomeadamente a vertente cognitiva, emocional e do neuro desenvolvimento.
Já é de conhecimento que as regiões vulcânicas emitem vários gases voláteis, nomeadamente o mercúrio, que possui propriedades neurotóxicas e, desta forma, pode comprometer a saúde dos habitantes em regiões com vulcanismo ativo, como é o caso das Furnas e da Ribeira Quente presentes neste estudo.
Para compreender a interação entre o meio ambiente e a linguagem nas crianças, esta investigação tem por base a participação de 27 crianças expostas a ambiente vulcanicamente ativo (Furnas e Ribeira Quente) e 19 crianças pertencentes à freguesia de Santo António, que é o nosso grupo de referência.
Estas crianças têm idades compreendidas entre os 6 e os 9 anos de idade e foram submetidas a avaliação de linguagem e a testes cognitivos, nomeadamente a GOL-E – Grelha de Avaliação da Linguagem na Criança – Nível escolar e a CPM-P - Matrizes Progressivas Coloridas de Raven, respetivamente.
De forma a evidenciar a influência do ambiente vulcânico nos resultados obtidos nos dois testes referidos anteriormente, foi efetuada a análise a amostras de cabelo dos participantes neste estudo a diversos metais pesados, tais como arsénio (As), cádmio (Cd), chumbo (Pb), manganês (Mn), e mercúrio (Hg). Destes cinco metais, obtiveram-se concentrações de Hg 4,2 significativamente mais elevadas no grupo exposto, relativamente ao grupo não exposto.
Após esta primeira análise, foi efetuado o teste t para comparar os resultados da CPM, o teste de Mann-Whitney para analisar cada estrutura da linguagem e realizaram-se correlações de Spearman, para testar a associação entre os resultados dos testes aplicados. Nenhuma das análises efetuadas revelou diferenças ou associações significativas nos dois grupos de estudo, ou seja, a exposição ao mercúrio não influenciou o desenvolvimento da linguagem nem os resultados cognitivos obtidos.
ABSTRACT: Mastery of language is one of the essential factors for survival and compromises the full integration of citizens into social life. It is known that language development occurs due to the conformity of several aspects, namely the cognitive, emotional and neurodevelopmental aspects. It is already known that volcanic regions emit numerous volatile gases, namely mercury, which is neurotoxic and, therefore, can compromise the health of inhabitants in regions with active volcanism, such as those from the villages of Furnas and Ribeira Quente. To understand the interaction between the environment and language in children, this research is based on the participation of 27 children exposed to volcanic environments (Furnas and Ribeira Quente: expodsed group) and 19 children belonging to the parish of Santo António (non-exposed group). These children are aged between 6 and 9 years old and were subjected to language and cognitive assessments, namely the GOL-E – Child Language Assessment Grid – School Level and the CPM-P – Colored Progressive Matrices of Raven. To determine the influence of the volcanic environment on the results obtained in the two tests mentioned above, hair samples from participants in this study were analyzed for various heavy metals, such as arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), manganese (Mn), and mercury (Hg). Of these five metals, significantly higher concentrations of Hg (x4.2 higher) were obtained in the exposed group, compared to the unexposed group. After this first analysis, the t-test was performed for the CPM results, the Mann-Whitney test was performed to analyze each language structure and Spearman correlations were performed to test the association between the results of the applied tests and study groups. None of the analyzes carried out revealed significant differences or associations in the two study groups, that is, exposure to mercury neither influenced language development, nor the cognitive results.
ABSTRACT: Mastery of language is one of the essential factors for survival and compromises the full integration of citizens into social life. It is known that language development occurs due to the conformity of several aspects, namely the cognitive, emotional and neurodevelopmental aspects. It is already known that volcanic regions emit numerous volatile gases, namely mercury, which is neurotoxic and, therefore, can compromise the health of inhabitants in regions with active volcanism, such as those from the villages of Furnas and Ribeira Quente. To understand the interaction between the environment and language in children, this research is based on the participation of 27 children exposed to volcanic environments (Furnas and Ribeira Quente: expodsed group) and 19 children belonging to the parish of Santo António (non-exposed group). These children are aged between 6 and 9 years old and were subjected to language and cognitive assessments, namely the GOL-E – Child Language Assessment Grid – School Level and the CPM-P – Colored Progressive Matrices of Raven. To determine the influence of the volcanic environment on the results obtained in the two tests mentioned above, hair samples from participants in this study were analyzed for various heavy metals, such as arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), manganese (Mn), and mercury (Hg). Of these five metals, significantly higher concentrations of Hg (x4.2 higher) were obtained in the exposed group, compared to the unexposed group. After this first analysis, the t-test was performed for the CPM results, the Mann-Whitney test was performed to analyze each language structure and Spearman correlations were performed to test the association between the results of the applied tests and study groups. None of the analyzes carried out revealed significant differences or associations in the two study groups, that is, exposure to mercury neither influenced language development, nor the cognitive results.
Description
Dissertação de Mestrado, Ciências Biomédicas, 21 de fevereiro de 2024, Universidade dos Açores.
Keywords
Linguagem Vulcanismo Mercúrio Neurotoxicidade Crianças
Citation
Fontes, Rute Silveira. (2023). "Alterações de linguagem em crianças cronicamente expostas a vulcanismo ativo – ilha de São Miguel (Açores)". 42 p. (Dissertação de Mestrado em Ciências Biomédicas). Ponta Delgada: Universidade dos Açores, 2023. Disponível em http://hdl.handle.net/10400.3/7168