IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i10p6083-d817302.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Blood Lead Monitoring in a Former Mining Area in Euskirchen, Germany—Volunteers across the Entire Population

Author

Listed:
  • Jens Bertram

    (Institute for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, University Hospital Aachen, 52074 Aachen, Germany)

  • Christian Ramolla

    (Public Health Department, District of Euskirchen, 53879 Euskirchen, Germany)

  • André Esser

    (Institute for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, University Hospital Aachen, 52074 Aachen, Germany)

  • Thomas Schettgen

    (Institute for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, University Hospital Aachen, 52074 Aachen, Germany)

  • Nina Fohn

    (Institute for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, University Hospital Aachen, 52074 Aachen, Germany)

  • Thomas Kraus

    (Institute for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, University Hospital Aachen, 52074 Aachen, Germany)

Abstract

After centuries of mining in the district of Euskirchen, that is, in the communities of Mechernich and Kall, the lead concentration in the soil remains high, often exceeding regulatory guidelines. To clarify the lead body burden among residents in the region, a human biomonitoring study on a voluntary basis was initiated in which the blood lead level (BLL) was assessed. A questionnaire was distributed to evaluate lead exposure routes and confounders. Overall, 506 volunteers participated in the study, of whom 7.5% were children and adolescents, 71.9% were adults from 18 to 69 years, and 19.4% were residents 70 years or older. While the BLLs in the adult population were inconspicuous, among the children and adolescents investigated, 16.7% of the children between 3 and 17 years had BLLs above the recently revised German reference values for BLL in children. These results point towards a higher lead exposure in children living in the region. The hierarchical regression analysis based on the BLL and the questionnaire revealed the significant influence of the factors age, sex, smoking, construction age of the real estate, occupancy, and intensive contact with soil on the BLL. Measures to reduce lead exposure include a focus on improved personal and domestic hygiene to minimize lead intake.

Suggested Citation

  • Jens Bertram & Christian Ramolla & André Esser & Thomas Schettgen & Nina Fohn & Thomas Kraus, 2022. "Blood Lead Monitoring in a Former Mining Area in Euskirchen, Germany—Volunteers across the Entire Population," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-15, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:10:p:6083-:d:817302
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/10/6083/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/10/6083/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kristoffer Mattisson & Eva Tekavec & Thomas Lundh & Emilie Stroh, 2020. "Cadmium and Lead Levels in Blood and Arsenic Levels in Urine among Schoolchildren Living in Contaminated Glassworks Areas, Sweden," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-12, October.
    2. Didier Malamba-Lez & Désire Tshala-Katumbay & Virginie Bito & Jean-Michel Rigo & Richie Kipenge Kyandabike & Eric Ngoy Yolola & Philippe Katchunga & Béatrice Koba-Bora & Dophra Ngoy-Nkulu, 2021. "Concurrent Heavy Metal Exposures and Idiopathic Dilated Cardiomyopathy: A Case-Control Study from the Katanga Mining Area of the Democratic Republic of Congo," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-21, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.

      More about this item

      Keywords

      BLL; former; lead; mining area; blood; Germany;
      All these keywords.

      Statistics

      Access and download statistics

      Corrections

      All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:10:p:6083-:d:817302. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

      If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

      If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

      If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

      For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

      Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

      IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.