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Von wegen nix zu machen. Werkzeugkiste für Weltverbesserer

Jürgen Becker — 2007-12-02T09:27:52-00:00

DEHP metabolites in urine of children and DEHP in house dust.

K Becker — 2005-12-08T19:39:51-00:00

Int J Hyg Environ Health, Vol. 207, No. 5. (October 2004), pp. 409-417.

Urine samples from the 2001/2002 pilot study for the German Environmental Survey on children (GerES IV) were analysed for concentrations of the primary DEHP metabolite MEHP (mono(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate) and two secondary DEHP metabolites SOH-MEHP (2-ethyl-5-hydroxy-hexylphthalate) and 5oxo-MEHP (2-ethyl-5-oxo-hexylphthalate). Urine samples had been taken from 254 children aged 3 to 14. In addition, DEHP was analysed in house dust samples. These samples had been collected with vacuum cleaners in the homes of the children. The geometric mean (GM) was 7.9 microg/l for MEHP in urine, and the GMs for the secondary metabolites 5OH-MEHP and 5oxo-MEHP were 52.1 microg/l and 39.9 microg/l. 5OH-MEHP and 5oxo-MEHP concentrations were highly correlated (r = 0.98). The correlations of 5OH-MEHP and 5oxo-MEHP with MEHP were also high (r = 0.72 and r = 0.70). The concentrations of 5OH-MEHP and 5oxo-MEHP were 8.0-fold and 6.2-fold higher than the concentrations of MEHP. The ratios 5OH-MEHP/Soxo-MEHP and 5oxo-MEHP/MEHP decreased with increasing age. Boys showed higher concentrations than girls for all three metabolites of DEHP in urine. Children aged 13-14 had the lowest mean concentrations of the secondary metabolites in urine. The house dust analyses revealed DEHP contamination of all samples. The GM was 508 mg/kg dust. No correlation could be observed between the levels of any of the urinary DEHP metabolites and those of DEHP in house dust.

The German Environmental Survey 1990/1992 (GerES II): cadmium in blood, urine and hair of adults and children.

K Hoffmann — 2005-12-08T19:36:50-00:00

J Expo Anal Environ Epidemiol, Vol. 10, No. 2. (r 2000), pp. 126-135.

As a follow-up of an earlier population study carried out in West Germany in 1985/1986 (GerES I), a nationwide Environmental Survey was conducted in Germany in 1990-1992 (GerES II). It was the aim of these studies to obtain representative data on the population's body burden and the quality of their indoor environment and immediate surroundings. The present paper reports on cadmium levels in blood, urine and hair of 4021 adults aged 25-69 and 736 children aged 6-14. The statistical analysis included both descriptive and inferential methods. The data were classified according to social factors, lifestyle characteristics, and environmental exposures. Moreover, regression analysis was used to determine the predictors of cadmium concentrations in the types of sample studied. Active cigarette smoking was found to be dominant in affecting blood and urine cadmium levels in adults, but less important for cadmium levels in hair. Age and creatinine level in urine were additional important factors influencing the cadmium concentration in urine, especially in women. Environmental and occupational exposures to cadmium played only a minor role in the exposure models for German adults. The cadmium concentration in blood and urine was generally lower in children than in adults, while no significant difference for cadmium in hair could be detected. The cadmium concentrations in all three samples were significantly higher in East German children than in West German children.

The German Environmental Survey 1990/1992 (GerES II): reference concentrations of selected environmental pollutants in blood, urine, hair, house dust, drinking water and indoor air.

B Seifert — 2005-11-04T18:19:04-00:00

J Expo Anal Environ Epidemiol, Vol. 10, No. 6 Pt 1. (c 2000), pp. 552-565.

The German Environmental Survey (GerES) is a large-scale, representative population study that has been carried out three times up to now with a time interval of about 7 years. GerES I was performed in 1985/1986, GerES IIa in 1990/1991 in West Germany, and GerES IIb in 1991/1992 in East Germany, the former German Democratic Republic (GDR). In GerES II, blood, urine, and scalp hair samples of 4021 adults aged 25-69 years and of 736 children aged 6-14 years were analysed as well as environmental samples (house dust, drinking water, indoor and personal air, diet). Characteristics of the frequency distributions of the substances analysed in the different media were calculated. The geometric mean (GM) for lead, cadmium, and mercury in the blood of adults amounted to 45.3, 0.36, and 0.51 microg/l, respectively. The corresponding values of arsenic, cadmium, and mercury in urine were 6.3, 0.29, and 0.54 microg/l, respectively. The concentrations of lead in blood, cadmium in blood and urine, and mercury in blood are lower in children than in adults. The GM ofpentachlorophenol (PCP) in urine of adults was 2.67 microg/l and in urine of children, 4.15 microg/l. These results of GerES II were compared with the so-called HBM values which represent health-based exposure guidelines and have been defined by the Human Biomonitoring Commission (HBC) of the Federal Environmental Agency, interalia for lead in blood, cadmium in urine, mercury in blood and urine, and PCP in urine. They also provided asound basis for the setting of reference values to describe the status of the German population. A total of 1.8% and 0.6% of the German females in child-bearing age had a level of lead in blood higher than HBM-I (100 microg/l) and HBM-II ( 150 microg/l), respectively. One percent of the children had a blood lead level above HBM-I. House dust and drinking water were analysed to characterise exposure in the domestic environment. Arsenic, cadmium, and lead deposition in homes amounted to 5.4 ng/(m2 day), 11.7 ng/(m2 day), and 0.29 microg/(m2 day), respectively. In the content of vacuum cleaner bags, concentrations were 2.1,0.9, and 5.9 microg/g. PCP, lindane and permethrin could be detected in the house dust of most German households. The pollutant load of the drinking water is significantly influenced by the corrosion of pipe materials and fittings. The new EC limit value of 10 microg/l for lead was exceeded in 7.7% of the first draw samples. The relatively high percentage (14%) of samples from East Germany that exceeded the current German guideline value for formaldehyde of 0.1 ppm in indoor air may be explained by the widespread use of contaminated particleboard in the former GDR.

German Environmental Survey 1998 (GerES III): environmental pollutants in blood of the German population

K Becker — 2005-11-04T18:17:13-00:00

International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health, Vol. 205, No. 4. (May 2002), pp. 297-308.

The German Environmental Survey was conducted for the third time in 1998 (GerES III). The probability sample of about 4800 subjects was selected to be representative for the German population with regard to region (East-/West-Germany), community size, age (18 to 69 years) and gender. Blood samples were taken from each study participant and questionnaires were used to get exposure-related information. Cadmium, lead, mercury, hexachlorobenzene (HCB), hexachlorocyclohexane (-HCH, -HCH, -HCH), 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)ethylene (p, p'-DDE) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB-138, PCB-153, PCB-180) were analysed in whole blood to document the extent, distribution, and determinants of exposure of the general population to these substances. The geometric means of Cd, Pb, and Hg in blood amounted to 0.44, 31, and 0.58 g/l, respectively. Smokers showed a Cadmium level of 1.1 g/l and non-smokers a level of 0.28 g/l. The geometric mean of lead was higher in the blood of males than of females (36 g/l vs. 26 g/l). The concentration of mercury in blood depends on fish consumption and the number of teeth with amalgam fillings. The mean concentrations of HCB and p, p'-DDE in blood were 0.44 g/l and 1.6 g/l, respectively. In East-Germany (the former GDR) the DDE concentration in blood was more than twice as high as in West-Germany. Geometric means for PCB were 0.42, 0.68 and 0.44 g/l for PCB-138, PCB-153, and PCB-180, respectively. A marked increase of HCB, DDE and PCB levels with age could be observed. -HCH and -HCH could be detected in 1.7% and 5.2% of the samples only. -HCH was quantified in 34% of the samples with a 95th percentile of 0.5 g/l.