Hair mercury and urinary cadmium levels in Belgian children and their mothers within the framework of the COPHES/DEMOCOPHES projects

Catherine Pirard; Gudrun Koppen; Koen De Cremer; Ilse Van Overmeire; Eva Govarts; Marie-Christine Dewolf; Els Van De Mieroop; Dominique Aerts; Pierre Biot; Ludwine Casteleyn; Marike Kolossa-Gehring; Gerda Schwedler; Jürgen Angerer; Holger M Koch; Birgit K Schindler; Argelia Castaño; Marta Esteban; Greet Schoeters; Elly Den Hond; Ovnair Sepai; Karen Exley; Milena Horvat; Louis Bloemen; Lisbeth E Knudsen; Reinhard Joas; Anke Joas; Joris Van Loco; Corinne Charlier

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.11.028

Hair mercury and urinary cadmium levels in Belgian children and their mothers within the framework of the COPHES/DEMOCOPHES projects

Catherine Pirard, Gudrun Koppen, Koen De Cremer, Ilse Van Overmeire, Eva Govarts, Marie-Christine Dewolf, Els Van De Mieroop, Dominique Aerts, Pierre Biot, Ludwine Casteleyn, Marike Kolossa-Gehring, Gerda Schwedler, Jürgen Angerer, Holger M Koch, Birgit K Schindler, Argelia Castaño, Marta Esteban, Greet Schoeters, Elly Den Hond, Ovnair SepaiKaren Exley, Milena Horvat, Louis Bloemen, Lisbeth E Knudsen, Reinhard Joas, Anke Joas, Joris Van Loco, Corinne Charlier

Section of Environmental Health

34 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A harmonized human biomonitoring pilot study was set up within the frame of the European projects DEMOCOPHES and COPHES. In 17 European countries, biomarkers of some environmental pollutants, including urinary cadmium and hair mercury, were measured in children and their mothers in order to obtain European-wide comparison values on these chemicals. The Belgian participant population consisted in 129 school children (6-11 years) and their mothers (≤ 45 years) living in urban or rural areas of Belgium. The geometric mean levels for mercury in hair were 0.383 μg/g and 0.204 μg/g for respectively mothers and children. Cadmium in mother's and children's urine was detected at a geometric mean concentration of respectively 0.21 and 0.04 μg/l. For both biomarkers, levels measured in the mothers and their child were correlated. While the urinary cadmium levels increased with age, no trend was found for hair mercury content, except the fact that mothers hold higher levels than children. The hair mercury content increased significantly with the number of dental amalgam fillings, explaining partially the higher levels in the mothers by their higher presence rate of these amalgams compared to children. Fish or seafood consumption was the other main parameter determining the mercury levels in hair. No relationship was found between smoking status and cadmium or mercury levels, but the studied population included very few smokers. Urinary cadmium levels were higher in both mothers and children living in urban areas, while for mercury this difference was only significant for children. Our small population showed urinary cadmium and hair mercury levels lower than the health based guidelines suggested by the WHO or the JECFA (Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives). Only 1% had cadmium level slightly higher than the German HBM-I value (1 μg/l for adults), and 9% exceeded the 1 μg mercury/g hair suggested by the US EPA.

Original language	English
Journal	The Science of the Total Environment
Volume	472
Pages (from-to)	730-40
Number of pages	11
ISSN	0048-9697
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.11.028
Publication status	Published - 15 Feb 2014

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Pirard, C., Koppen, G., De Cremer, K., Van Overmeire, I., Govarts, E., Dewolf, M-C., Van De Mieroop, E., Aerts, D., Biot, P., Casteleyn, L., Kolossa-Gehring, M., Schwedler, G., Angerer, J., Koch, H. M., Schindler, B. K., Castaño, A., Esteban, M., Schoeters, G., Den Hond, E., ... Charlier, C. (2014). Hair mercury and urinary cadmium levels in Belgian children and their mothers within the framework of the COPHES/DEMOCOPHES projects. The Science of the Total Environment, 472, 730-40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.11.028

Pirard, C, Koppen, G, De Cremer, K, Van Overmeire, I, Govarts, E, Dewolf, M-C, Van De Mieroop, E, Aerts, D, Biot, P, Casteleyn, L, Kolossa-Gehring, M, Schwedler, G, Angerer, J, Koch, HM, Schindler, BK, Castaño, A, Esteban, M, Schoeters, G, Den Hond, E, Sepai, O, Exley, K, Horvat, M, Bloemen, L, Knudsen, LE, Joas, R, Joas, A, Van Loco, J & Charlier, C 2014, 'Hair mercury and urinary cadmium levels in Belgian children and their mothers within the framework of the COPHES/DEMOCOPHES projects', The Science of the Total Environment, vol. 472, pp. 730-40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.11.028

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title = "Hair mercury and urinary cadmium levels in Belgian children and their mothers within the framework of the COPHES/DEMOCOPHES projects",

abstract = "A harmonized human biomonitoring pilot study was set up within the frame of the European projects DEMOCOPHES and COPHES. In 17 European countries, biomarkers of some environmental pollutants, including urinary cadmium and hair mercury, were measured in children and their mothers in order to obtain European-wide comparison values on these chemicals. The Belgian participant population consisted in 129 school children (6-11 years) and their mothers (≤ 45 years) living in urban or rural areas of Belgium. The geometric mean levels for mercury in hair were 0.383 μg/g and 0.204 μg/g for respectively mothers and children. Cadmium in mother's and children's urine was detected at a geometric mean concentration of respectively 0.21 and 0.04 μg/l. For both biomarkers, levels measured in the mothers and their child were correlated. While the urinary cadmium levels increased with age, no trend was found for hair mercury content, except the fact that mothers hold higher levels than children. The hair mercury content increased significantly with the number of dental amalgam fillings, explaining partially the higher levels in the mothers by their higher presence rate of these amalgams compared to children. Fish or seafood consumption was the other main parameter determining the mercury levels in hair. No relationship was found between smoking status and cadmium or mercury levels, but the studied population included very few smokers. Urinary cadmium levels were higher in both mothers and children living in urban areas, while for mercury this difference was only significant for children. Our small population showed urinary cadmium and hair mercury levels lower than the health based guidelines suggested by the WHO or the JECFA (Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives). Only 1% had cadmium level slightly higher than the German HBM-I value (1 μg/l for adults), and 9% exceeded the 1 μg mercury/g hair suggested by the US EPA.",

author = "Catherine Pirard and Gudrun Koppen and {De Cremer}, Koen and {Van Overmeire}, Ilse and Eva Govarts and Marie-Christine Dewolf and {Van De Mieroop}, Els and Dominique Aerts and Pierre Biot and Ludwine Casteleyn and Marike Kolossa-Gehring and Gerda Schwedler and J{\"u}rgen Angerer and Koch, {Holger M} and Schindler, {Birgit K} and Argelia Casta{\~n}o and Marta Esteban and Greet Schoeters and {Den Hond}, Elly and Ovnair Sepai and Karen Exley and Milena Horvat and Louis Bloemen and Knudsen, {Lisbeth E} and Reinhard Joas and Anke Joas and {Van Loco}, Joris and Corinne Charlier",

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T1 - Hair mercury and urinary cadmium levels in Belgian children and their mothers within the framework of the COPHES/DEMOCOPHES projects

AU - Pirard, Catherine

AU - Koppen, Gudrun

AU - De Cremer, Koen

AU - Van Overmeire, Ilse

AU - Govarts, Eva

AU - Dewolf, Marie-Christine

AU - Van De Mieroop, Els

AU - Aerts, Dominique

AU - Biot, Pierre

AU - Casteleyn, Ludwine

AU - Kolossa-Gehring, Marike

AU - Schwedler, Gerda

AU - Angerer, Jürgen

AU - Koch, Holger M

AU - Schindler, Birgit K

AU - Castaño, Argelia

AU - Esteban, Marta

AU - Schoeters, Greet

AU - Den Hond, Elly

AU - Sepai, Ovnair

AU - Exley, Karen

AU - Horvat, Milena

AU - Bloemen, Louis

AU - Knudsen, Lisbeth E

AU - Joas, Reinhard

AU - Joas, Anke

AU - Van Loco, Joris

AU - Charlier, Corinne

PY - 2014/2/15

Y1 - 2014/2/15

N2 - A harmonized human biomonitoring pilot study was set up within the frame of the European projects DEMOCOPHES and COPHES. In 17 European countries, biomarkers of some environmental pollutants, including urinary cadmium and hair mercury, were measured in children and their mothers in order to obtain European-wide comparison values on these chemicals. The Belgian participant population consisted in 129 school children (6-11 years) and their mothers (≤ 45 years) living in urban or rural areas of Belgium. The geometric mean levels for mercury in hair were 0.383 μg/g and 0.204 μg/g for respectively mothers and children. Cadmium in mother's and children's urine was detected at a geometric mean concentration of respectively 0.21 and 0.04 μg/l. For both biomarkers, levels measured in the mothers and their child were correlated. While the urinary cadmium levels increased with age, no trend was found for hair mercury content, except the fact that mothers hold higher levels than children. The hair mercury content increased significantly with the number of dental amalgam fillings, explaining partially the higher levels in the mothers by their higher presence rate of these amalgams compared to children. Fish or seafood consumption was the other main parameter determining the mercury levels in hair. No relationship was found between smoking status and cadmium or mercury levels, but the studied population included very few smokers. Urinary cadmium levels were higher in both mothers and children living in urban areas, while for mercury this difference was only significant for children. Our small population showed urinary cadmium and hair mercury levels lower than the health based guidelines suggested by the WHO or the JECFA (Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives). Only 1% had cadmium level slightly higher than the German HBM-I value (1 μg/l for adults), and 9% exceeded the 1 μg mercury/g hair suggested by the US EPA.

AB - A harmonized human biomonitoring pilot study was set up within the frame of the European projects DEMOCOPHES and COPHES. In 17 European countries, biomarkers of some environmental pollutants, including urinary cadmium and hair mercury, were measured in children and their mothers in order to obtain European-wide comparison values on these chemicals. The Belgian participant population consisted in 129 school children (6-11 years) and their mothers (≤ 45 years) living in urban or rural areas of Belgium. The geometric mean levels for mercury in hair were 0.383 μg/g and 0.204 μg/g for respectively mothers and children. Cadmium in mother's and children's urine was detected at a geometric mean concentration of respectively 0.21 and 0.04 μg/l. For both biomarkers, levels measured in the mothers and their child were correlated. While the urinary cadmium levels increased with age, no trend was found for hair mercury content, except the fact that mothers hold higher levels than children. The hair mercury content increased significantly with the number of dental amalgam fillings, explaining partially the higher levels in the mothers by their higher presence rate of these amalgams compared to children. Fish or seafood consumption was the other main parameter determining the mercury levels in hair. No relationship was found between smoking status and cadmium or mercury levels, but the studied population included very few smokers. Urinary cadmium levels were higher in both mothers and children living in urban areas, while for mercury this difference was only significant for children. Our small population showed urinary cadmium and hair mercury levels lower than the health based guidelines suggested by the WHO or the JECFA (Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives). Only 1% had cadmium level slightly higher than the German HBM-I value (1 μg/l for adults), and 9% exceeded the 1 μg mercury/g hair suggested by the US EPA.

U2 - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.11.028

DO - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.11.028

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 24333995

SN - 0048-9697

VL - 472

SP - 730

EP - 740

JO - Science of the Total Environment

JF - Science of the Total Environment

ER -

Hair mercury and urinary cadmium levels in Belgian children and their mothers within the framework of the COPHES/DEMOCOPHES projects

Abstract

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