Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Lead in homes is a well-known source of childhood lead exposure,which is still of concern due to the health effects of low lead doses. This study aims to describe lead contamination in the homes of children aged 6 months to 6 years in France (without overseas). Between October 2008 and August 2009 ,484 housing units were investigated. Lead in tap water and total and leachable lead levels from floor dust, outdoor soils and paint chips were measured. X-ray fluorescence measurements were carried out on non-metallic and metallic substrates. Nationwide results are provided. The indoor floor dust lead (PbD) geometric mean (GM) was 8.8 microg/m2 (0.8 microg/ft2) and 6.8 mmicrog/m2 (0.6 mg/ft2) for total and leachable lead respectively; 0.21% of homes had an indoor PbD loading above 430.5 microg/m2 (40 microg/ft2). The outdoor play area concentration GM was 33.5microg/kg and 21.7microgkg in total and leachable lead respectively; 1.4% of concentrations were higher than or equal to 400microg/kg. Outdoor floor PbD GM was 44.4 mg/m2 (4.1 mg/ft2) that was approximately 3.2 times higher than the GM of indoor PbD. Lead-based paint (LBP) was present in 25% of dwellings, LBP on only non-metallic substrates was present in 19% of homes and on metallic substrates in 10% of dwellings. The GM of lead concentrations in tap water was below 1 microg/L; 58% of concentrations were lower than 1 microg/L and 2.9% were higher than or equal to 10 mg/L. The age cut-off for homes with lead would be 1974 for paint and 1993 for indoor floor dust. This study provides, for the first time, a look at the state of lead contamination to which children are exposed in French housing. Moreover, it provides policy makers an estimate of the number of French dwellings sheltering children where abatement should be conducted.
Environmental Research

hal-00714516
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00714516

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD MDPI
Résumé : International audience
The decline in children's Blood Lead Levels (BLL) raises questions about the ability of current lead poisoning screening criteria to identify those children most exposed. The objectives of the study were to evaluate the performance of current screening criteria in identifying children with blood lead levels higher than 50 µg/L in France, and to propose new criteria. Data from a national French survey, conducted among 3831 children aged 6 months to 6 years in 2008-2009 were used. The sensitivity and specificity of the current criteria in predicting blood lead levels higher than or equal to 50 µg/L were evaluated. Two predictive models of BLL above 44 µg/L (for lack of sufficient sample size at 50 µg/L) were built: the first using current criteria, and the second using newly identified risk factors. For each model, performance was studied by calculating the area under the ROC (Receiver Operating Characteristic) curve. The sensitivity of current criteria for detecting BLL higher than or equal to 50 µg/L was 0.51 (0.26; 0.75) and specificity was 0.66 (0.62; 0.70). The new model included the following criteria: foreign child newly arrived in France, mother born abroad, consumption of tap water in the presence of lead pipes, pre-1949 housing, period of construction of housing unknown, presence of peeling paint, parental smoking at home, occupancy rates for housing and child's address in a cadastral municipality or census block comprising more than 6% of housing that is potentially unfit and built pre-1949. The area under the ROC curve was 0.86 for the new model, versus 0.76 for the current one. The lead poisoning screening criteria should be updated. The risk of industrial, occupational and hobby-related exposure could not be assessed in this study, but should be kept as screening criteria
ISSN: 1660-4601

hal-01239804
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01239804
DOI : 10.3390/ijerph121214989
PUBMED : 26633457

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD John Libbey Eurotext
Résumé : National audience
ISSN: 1635-0421

hal-01118600
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01118600
DOI : 10.1684/ers.2014.0751

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Background: Blood Lead Levels (BLLs) have substantially decreased in recent decades in children in France. However, further reducing exposure is a public health goal because there is no clear toxicological threshold. The identification of the environmental determinants of BLLs as well as risk factors associated with high BLLs is important to update prevention strategies. We aimed to estimate the contribution of environmental sources of lead to different BLLs in children in France.Methods: We enrolled 484 children aged from 6 months to 6 years, in a nationwide cross-sectional survey in 2008-2009. We measured lead concentrations in blood and environmental samples (water, soils, household settled dusts, paints, cosmetics and traditional cookware). We performed two models: a multivariate generalized additive model on the geometric mean (GM), and a quantile regression model on the 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th and 90th quantile of BLLs. Results: The GM of BLLs was 13.8 μg/L (=1.38 µg/dL) (95% Confidence Intervals (CI): 12.7-14.9) and the 90th quantile was 25.7 μg/L (CI: 24.2-29.5). Household and common area dust, tap water, interior paint, ceramic cookware, traditional cosmetics, playground soil and dust, and environmental tobacco smoke were associated with the GM of BLLs. Household dust and tap water made the largest contributions to both the GM and the 90th quantile of BLLs. The concentration of lead in dust was positively correlated with all quantiles of BLLs even at low concentrations. Lead concentrations in tap water above 5 µg/L were also positively correlated with the GM, 75th and 90th quantiles of BLLs in children drinking tap water.Conclusions: Preventative actions must target household settled dust and tap water to reduce the BLLs of children in France. The use of traditional cosmetics should be avoided whereas ceramic cookware should be limited to decorative purposes.
ISSN: 0160-4120

Droits : info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess
hal-01099719
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01099719
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01099719/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01099719/file/Manuscript_Etchevers_EI_V3_no%20%20changes%20marked.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.envint.2014.10.007

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Lead in homes is a well-known source of childhood lead exposure, which is still of concern due to the health effects of low lead doses. This study aims to describe lead contamination in the homes of children aged 6 months to 6 years in France (without overseas). Between October 2008 and August 2009, 484 housing units were investigated. Lead in tap water and total and leachable lead levels from floor dust, outdoor soils and paint chips were measured. X-ray fluorescence measurements were carried out on non-metallic and metallic substrates. Nationwide results are provided. The indoor floor dust lead (PbD) geometric mean (GM) was 8.8 μg/m² (0.8 μg/ft²) and 6.8 μg/m² (0.6 μg/ft²) for total and leachable lead respectively; 0.21% of homes had an indoor PbD loading above 430.5 μg/m² (40 μg/ft²). The outdoor play area concentration GM was 33.5 mg/kg and 21.7 mg/kg in total and leachable lead respectively; 1.4% of concentrations were higher than or equal to 400 mg/kg. Outdoor floor PbD GM was 44.4 μg/m² (4.1 μg/ft²) that was approximately 3.2 times higher than the GM of indoor PbD. Lead-based paint (LBP) was present in 25% of dwellings, LBP on only non-metallic substrates was present in 19% of homes and on metallic substrates in 10% of dwellings. The GM of lead concentrations in tap water was below 1 μg/L; 58% of concentrations were lower than 1 μg/L and 2.9% were higher than or equal to 10 μg/L. The age cut-off for homes with lead would be 1974 for paint and 1993 for indoor floor dust. This study provides, for the first time, a look at the state of lead contamination to which children are exposed in French housing. Moreover, it provides policy makers an estimate of the number of French dwellings sheltering children where abatement should be conducted.
ISSN: 0013-9351

hal-00732138
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00732138
DOI : 10.1016/j.envres.2012.04.005
PUBMED : 22551852

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
BACKGROUND: The exposure of children to lead has decreased in recent years, thanks notably to the banning of leaded gasoline. However, lead exposure remains a matter of public health concern, because no toxicity threshold has been observed, cognitive effects having been demonstrated even at low levels. It is therefore important to update exposure assessments. A national study was conducted, in 2008-2009, to determine the blood lead level (BLL) distribution in children between the ages of six months and six years in France. We also assessed the contribution of environmental factors. METHODS: This cross-sectional survey included 3831 children recruited at hospitals. Two-stage probability sampling was carried out, with stratification by hospital and French region. Sociodemographic characteristics were recorded, and blood samples and environmental data were collected by questionnaire. Generalized linear model and quantile regression were used to quantify the association between BLL and environmental risk factors. RESULTS: The geometric mean BLL was 14.9μg/l (95% confidence interval (CI)=[14.5-15.4]) and 0.09% of the children (95% CI=[0.03-0.15]) had BLLs exceeding 100μg/l, 1.5% (95% CI=[0.9-2.1] exceeding 50μg/l. Only slight differences were observed between French regions. Environmental factors significantly associated with BLL were the consumption of tap water in homes with lead service connections, peeling paint or recent renovations in old housing, hand-mouth behavior, passive smoking and having a mother born in a country where lead is often used. CONCLUSIONS: In children between the ages of one and six years in France, lead exposure has decreased over the last 15 years as in the US and other European countries. Nevertheless still 76,000 children have BLL over 50μg/l and prevention policies must be pursued, especially keeping in mind there is no known toxicity threshold.
ISSN: 1438-4639

hal-01009847
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01009847
PUBMED : 24262290
DOI : 10.1016/j.ijheh.2013.10.002